TsukiHime
by Risu Hime
Summary: Serenity is a spunky, haughty Moon Princess, and He was Supposed to be an old, arrogant and stuck up Prince, then what was going on? And Where and What will this lead to? Lemon in up coming chapters!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is the first story I've ever written and published or shared with anyone... I know it's not the best and all critisism is welcome! I appologize in advance for all or any grammar and spelling mistakes I may not have caught. **

**The current rating for this storry will be T but will be changed later on due to lemons.. sorry**

**Disclaimer: I do Not own Sailor Moon or Any of characters except those I have made up and the story plot.**

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**_Chapter 1 _****_of TsukiHime,_**

**_The Welcome_**

Prince Darien stepped into the Crystal Palace with a sense of amazement. It looked as thought everything was made of crystals.

_Well no duh! It is the Crystal Palace after all; they wouldn't call it that for no reason, _he reprimanded himself; still this was just a jewel among many upon the Moon according to his father who normally came as representative for the Earth.

The room was quite large and was completely empty. He hadn't been expecting a huge welcome party, but he had been expecting at least the Queen and her daughter. Suddenly a beautiful middle aged woman hurriedly swept into the room. She could only be Queen Serelaina of the moon. The slight irritation in her stunning blue eyes and features were replaced with a warm motherly smile at the sight of him.

"Welcome, Prince Darien, to the Moon Kingdom and May I be the first to welcome you to the Crystal Palace. I truly hope you find your arrangements to be comfortable and to you liking," she said in a melodious voice.

She had a regal air about her that was fit to commend. It could go with out saying that she could control a whole room just by her mere presence.

Then realizing he was being rude he bowed deeply replying, "Thank you for having me Your Highness. I also send apologies from my father for not being able to attend, and I give mine in advanced for any offences or such, that I may cause during my stay and-"

Before he even finished his sentence the room was suddenly filled with muffled giggle s. He looked up to see four young women standing behind the Queen. The group appeared to be two or three years younger than him; other than age each one was as different from the other as could be with out being the opposite sex.

All were pretty but it seemed slightly paled beside that of the Moon Queen's radiating beauty. They were grinning and even Queen Serelaina's kind smile seemed amused.

The blonde one stepped foreword and curtsied deeply. If Darien guessed correctly he thought that she was a little older than the other three. She cough slightly clearing her and said, "As the leader of the Guardians, protect Princess Serenity, I welcome thee Prince of Earth," stopping she turned her head slightly glancing behind her at her friends who giggled again, "And I highly doubt _you_ will offend any one during your stay."

Here she stopped and shot a nervous glance at her Queen before continuing who barley nodded her head, "I also regret to inform you that currently the Princess seems to be missing, and has been for several hours. There is no need to worry, she will be perfectly fine… that is until we find her hiding spot. Now if you'll excuse us, we must continue out search." And with that she curtsied again and murmured some reassuring words to the Queen before her and the Guardians promptly left.

The look of irritation returned to Queen Serelaina's face; she wiped her hands on the front of her dress, no doubt in an attempt to suppress her anger. "I am terribly sorry about this but I must attend to the _problem. _I'll have some one show you to your room and if you wish for something to eat there is a rope with a small bell that leads down to the kitchen. If you pull on it some one will bring you some supper."

Her tone was quite a contrast to her facial expression but he supposed that it was a trait all her women shared, for they seemed to be very good at hiding what they wanted to remain hidden. And with that she hurried out of the room and was quickly replaced by an elderly maid with a cheerful face.

"Oh my! I suppose you are King Vincent's son, Prince Darien," she said in a cheery tone as her face. Darien opened his mouth to reply but she continued on with out a response. "Why, no need to answer my dear, I would recognize your father's looks any where, and if I do say so myself, what a good looking man he is, oh and so noble too."

As they walked out of the room and into a large hallway, Darien could not stop his thoughts from wondering to how much this cheery little maid reminded his Aunt Betsy back on Earth. Aunt Betsy was always has a bright and happy disposition, and they always got a long because she was so honest; she could always make him laugh when he was sad or pissed off, not to mention that she had to qualms over saying what every one else was thinking.

When Darien started listening to her again she was prattling on about the kingdom, the current economy, his father, his home planet, his journey, his father, the masquerade coming up and once again his father. He began to get a little worried over the maid's attachment to his father and about everything he did while here. Once again his attention began to wonder, but this time to his surroundings; he couldn't help but feel a child-like sense of wonder at the Crystal Palace's architecture. He was suddenly really grateful at having been so fortunate to see such beauty in his life time.

By the time he started to listen… again... the cheerful little old maid was telling him about his room, "Why your father stays in this very room on his visits, and it is a great honor to be located in this wing," and with that she pointed to a pair of beautifully silver gilded doors. In the very center of the intricate silvery maze was a crescent moon; he tried to think of where he had seen that symbol before when it hit him, _oh yeah! The Queen's forehead had the same symbol._ The maid looked back checking to see if he was looking and nodded to herself when she saw that he was adequately impressed before continuing on. "Those are the doors to Princess Serenity's room, our beloved and mischievous moon princess."

Upon hearing this he gave a start as this conjured up the memory that the Princess was currently missing, or had been. He mentally cursed himself for forgetting and interrupted the maids chatter asking, "Excuse me but the Princess is missing is she not? And pardon me for asking but it seems to me that there should be a bit more of a sense of panic or at least worry in the Palace, or does this happen often?"

The cheery old maid chuckled to herself before answering, "Why you are just as sharp and observant as your father. And as much as it is embarrassing, yes her royal highness does disappear every now and then." Before she had even finished talking he had stopped walking and was gaping at the doors to his room. They were an exact replica of his father's doors back on earth.

_I wonder which one was furnished first; if my father visited here and had them recreated at home or if he asked them to be made here since he was the one who normally comes here,_ he thought to himself. The maid didn't seem to notice and continued on and proceeded to push open the doors.

She set down his bags, which he had completely forgotten about or he would have carried them himself. The maid had never commented on them or how heavy they were, which he knew they must be.

Coming back to reality he found that the maid was thinking out loud as she put away his stuff into the closet. When she was finished she turned towards him saying, "Well you're probably weary from your trip but her Majesty, Queen Serelaina, says that all of the Palace and the Palace grounds are open to you." She turned to leave then faced him again adding, "If you ever feel up to it, your Highness, I highly suggest that you visit the Royal Gardens. Also, if I'm not mistaken, I believe your father helped in their design." And with that she took one final glance around the room, and with a nod to herself when she was satisfied she finally left.

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**Well... the first chapter is done and I'll have the second one up soon. The story is written down a little in adavnced so that part will come quickly.**


	2. Chapter 2

**ok! so on to chapter 2! Wow yay for me! I'm so On a roll! Critisim and reviews most welcome! so a special thanx to:**

Sailormoonloverlol: It's up :p

MoonPrincessMagic: THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Disclaimer: I do not own sailor moon, but i do own the characters i made up and the plot.

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Darien walked around his Father's room taking in the details; there was a large bed up against the left side of the room and a writing desk off to the right when near the main entrance. The room also contained two different rugs of various shape and size; one was in front of the main entrance and the other at the foot of the bed. The dresser that the maid had hung up his clothing in was located in a top left corner and the doors were slightly ajar. There where two other doors, one of which Darien assumed was to the bathroom and the other was draped in heavy velvet curtains that were the same color as the bed cover and had no idea as to where they led. Overall the room was fashioned with simple yet elegant furnishings and he could see that this very much matched his father's tastes when it came to décor. This room was marginally bigger than his at his own Palace which should have made him feel ill at ease but the knowledge that this room really belonged to his father comforted him. He looked around and decided that it was indeed a little lonely with out the company of the talkative old maid.

Then an idea struck him, _perhaps the Princess has been found and has returned to her rooms. _Deciding upon this he took off his traveling cloak and set it on a chair next to the writing desk, and noticed a full length mirror located on the right side of the room. He walked over and saw a young man about 5"10', with midnight black hair, and cerulean blue eyes. He looked over his current appearance taking note of how tired his eyes looked, and realized that he was actually quite weary. He put that aside and told himself that he mustn't let that impinge on his manners.

Manners to him went beyond the simple "please"s and "thank you"s, it was how you held yourself, your poise, and the way you spoke and most importantly making sure you remembered who you were speaking to. After reaching that conclusion, he mentally ran over the things he would say and how things would play out. He went over it again and again till he had it memorized.

Checking himself in the mirror one last time, he took a deep breath and wondered why he felt nervous. Abruptly he shoved all nervousness and other stray thoughts to the back of his head and left only the thoughts of what he was to say floating in his conscience.

Darien strode out of his room, head held high and across the hall to the Princess' unmistakable doors; once again he was reminded of the crescent moon and the Queen's forehead. Thinking to himself that it did nothing to mire her beauty but quiet the contrary, it added to it. If he recalled correctly, the Princess' name was Serenity, _man, I'm so horrible with names, but I'm fairly sure I'm right on this one. I wonder what she'll look like, probably her mother. _Her mother had long, long lilac tinged silver hair that quit nearly touched the floor; it was swept up into two pony tails with two buns atop her head for each pony tail. Her face was delicate and she had a faire complexion that was accented by her stunning eyes. She was taller then most the woman on Earth but in a beautiful way; taking all this into account he began to wonder if anything had happened between his father and her. She was a very tempting woman but he shook that thought from his head and didn't dwell on it.

He found himself hoping that her daughter shared the same traits, from a melodious voice to a curvy body and stunning eyes. Then, realizing that he had been standing in front of her door for several minutes, he looked around to make sure that no one had seen him dallying in the hallway. Seeing no one else around, much to his relief, he stepped forward while taking a deep breath and knocked at what he thought would be an appropriate volume. There was no reply, so again he knocked, but this time a little louder; after waiting for a moment longer than last time he was about to turn around and head back to his room when he heard the door being opened.

Swallowing down his nervous feeling again, he blinked in surprise when he saw that it was just a maid opening the door. The maid curtsied deeply allowing Darien to get a good glimpse into the sitting room of the Moon Princess. It was stunning and for a moment he didn't notice that the maid was speaking to him, "I'm sorry but the Princess isn't here right now, if you could please come back later I'm sure her Majesty would be willing to have an audience with you." And with that she shut the door before Darien could say anything, leaving him in the still corridor.

Knowing that there was nothing else he could do, he turned around and went back to his rooms where he determined that it was time to get some food and then be off to bed. Looking for the rope with the bell he pulled it gently and decided that there was nothing to do but wait. He wanted to get comfortable and settled in for the night so he sat down on the edge of his bed bouncing slightly as he sank down into the plush covers and mattress. Taking off his shirt and boots, he then folded his shirt and put his boots and shirt on the chest at the foot of his bed. With this done he concluded that he would explore his room a little more; he walked over to the door he thought was the bathroom only to have his suspicions confirmed. It was fairly sized and not extravagant, just the kind his father would like; it contained a small wash sink with a small mirror hanging on the wall above it, and in the corner up against the wall was a large claw footed bath tub big enough for him to bathe comfortably.

After investigating his bathroom completely enough to satisfy himself he decided that it was time to find out where the other led; pulling back the heavy velvet curtained doors, he was not surprised to find that they revealed a large balcony. He gasped as he opened the doors and saw the view and felt the warm evening air; the view consisted of a sea of twinkling lights form the Moon Kingdom below and a glimpse of a dimly lit garden straight below him. This was spectacular but what really caused him to loose his breath was the Earth, bright and shining while it hung in the sky; the mixture of blues, green and the white swirls caused him to fall in love with his home all over again. The beauty of it made him long to walk on the lush green laws and sail the open blue seas; moving his gaze to the warm glowing city before him he felt a sense of tranquility over take him.

Suddenly a sound like clattering dishes broke through his peaceful moment and gave a small jump of surprise. He turned around to see a very beautiful young setting down a tray of food; she had long flowing blonde hair that was a long as the Queen's and her hair do was almost the same, except for she only had one bun a top each pony tail. Along with her hour glass-figure, and elegant attire, she had pale and creamy skin, with bright blue eyes and ripe lips. Darien knew she could only be Queen Serelaina's daughter, Princess Serenity. She looked to be four years younger than him and he guessed she was about 5"4' in height. Darien swallowed hard and had to stop himself from openly gaping at her; he thought back to his previous realization as to how beautiful his home planet was and knew that even that paled in comparison to her shining beauty.

She jumped a little as she heard him re-entered the room and backed away from the desk where she had set down his food. She held her chin high and stood straight before she dropped into a low curtsy when he approached her. He bowed in return and noticed he was standing there naked to the waist on front of royalty; looking at her he also saw that she was blushing furiously. Trying to fix this awkward moment, he walked over to the chest where his shirt was folded and put it on.

He turned around to see that she had already taken a seat near the desk, so he opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it saying. "I apologize for seemingly just walking into your room; I knocked twice without receiving an answer." _Well I really don't mind when it's someone so gorgeous..._ he thought to himself.

She continued on but this time through clenched teeth, "My mother has asked that I deliver you your dinner and keep you company while you eat, since I….. Missed, you welcome." She looked down at her skirts after she was done talking and began plucking at minute pieces of dust. At this time a strong whiff of the food on the tray reached Darien's nose and his stomach gave such a loud rumble that he was sure Serenity had heard.

Pulling back the cloth that covered the tray to keep the heat, he was surprised at the vast array and variety of food on the tray in front of him. "Thank you," he said looking up at her, and trying to dissipate the heavy feeling of awkwardness in the air he added, "And by the way, nice buns." Then, from the immediate dangerous look that appeared in her bright blue eyes, he knew that this wasn't the best way to impress her.

He blinked, and little did he realize that he had stopped chewing as well, _wait, since when was I trying to impress her?! _"Is every thing alright with your food?" she asked haughtily, "I can order you different food or have them reheat this if that is what you want." He looked down at his plate to hide the heated feeling on his face and finished his bite. _Great, now she must think I'm a complete simpleton, if not an idiot… _"Ah no, that won't be needed! Everything is absolutely delicious, and the temperature is wonderful." Thinking that he should say more he added, "I.. um... that is, Thank you very much for taking time to bring it up to me, and if you wish to return to your rooms I won't be offended."

The dangerous look in her eyes intensified, making him wonder if he had offended some custom of the Moon People. At this point she stood up as if to go towards the doors, but instead she turned and went over to the still open doors of his balcony. He felt his mouth go dry as he followed her swaying walk across the room, she stopped and her perfect body was silhouetted against the glowing earth, and he found himself very glad she had decided to stay.

Abruptly she turned to face him, hair and dress twirling around her. "What is it like?" She asked, and if Darien was correct, he believed he detected a slight hint of wistfulness in her tone, "Please tell me, I've never been to the Earth." Startled by this question, he wasn't able to answer immediately but as the memories of his home over took him he tried to describe what felt.

"Warm," he began, "Not the weather, but it's more like the feeling you get when you with family and friends. I have so many feelings I get when I see my planet, pride, joy, hope…There are so many places that I find myself content to just be around, and the places I love give me the knowledge that this is my planet.. this is my Home."

When he has finished he realized that he had spaced out and looked up to see if Princess Serenity had noticed. To his surprise he saw that she had turned back around and was gazing at the beautiful blue, green orb in the sky; she didn't appear to have noticed that he had stopped talking either. Darien's eyes gazed down her body taking in her curves and slenderness; he took in her appearance from her hair that looked like spun gold that fell in waterfalls from her head and her skin that was white and glowed in the light from outside. He knew he should stop looking, she could turn around at any moment, but he couldn't, his will power was non-existent at that moment. Knowing that he needed to say something to end the silence he said, "If I may ask, why were you interested?"

After waiting for several moments, he found that he had to repeat the question before she answered him. "It's just that my grandmother.. I mean I've heard stories about your planet and I became curious." She replied; at this point she turned to face him, and the look in her eyes told him that it was a subject best not to probe further. He looked down at his tray to see what he was to eat next and blinked several times in surprise, _I must've been much hungrier than I had anticipated._ Princess Serenity had also taken note of this and decided it was time to leave.

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**This is the end of Darien's veiw point for a couple chapters, next is Serenity's pov.. so tell me what you think! Click the Little Button and REVIEW pretty please! thanx- **

**W/ Love, Hime-chan 3**


	3. Chapter 3

**YAY! New chapter! Well this is the last chapter that I have written down so the next ones may be a little bit slow in their forth coming... I'm sorry... I'll try to write as fast as I can and hopefully I won't have a writers block. I know how the story is pretty much going to go I just need to add all the details. And so that no one gets confused, there is a little bit of lapping in switching from Darien's POV and Serenity's POV, but this contains thoughts that I thought should be added. Sorry. Well enjoy!**

**P.s. – I'm currently looking for a beta reader if interested please contact me.**

**Thanx again to:**

**MoonPrincessMagic**

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_**Chapter 3 of TsukiHime,**_

_**The Time Before**_

Princess Serenity looked up at Prince Darien and bit back a giggle, _his expression is hilarious! It looks like he didn't even realize he had been eating. _After pondering this thought, the sudden realization that she might have to go get him more food and stay here even longer began to form, but before she could ask Darien was standing up. He bowed causing her to remember that just a short while ago he had done that... but with out a shirt on. When he straightened he said, "Thank you for bringing me my food, it's very much appreciated, and your time even more so."

She felt a blush creep up her cheeks, so to hide it and to be polite she curtsied in return replying, "Your welcome." She knew it was time to leave so she turned and walked towards the door; she felt relief wash over her at having been spared of bringing him more food. She paused at the door and decided that something else needed to be said so she said the first thing that came, "Good Night Prince Darien." After that she promptly left shutting the doors quietly behind her.

She walked straight across the hallway and pushed open her silver doors; once inside her sitting room, her napping maid gave a start, to cover her mistake, she quickly stood up and dropped a deep curtsy before she began to apologizing profusely, while adding how happy she was to see she was safe and then chided her for disappearing. Serenity began to get irritated and needing some time alone dismissed her saying, "Thank you Lisa. You are excused for the night." After saying this she turned around and opened the door to her sleeping quarters and paused when she saw that Lisa hadn't left yet.

"Yes? Is there something you have to say?" She asked. "Well I just thought that your Majesty might like to know that a handsome young man came to your rooms earlier today while you were… gone." And with that she turned and left, leaving Serenity to wonder why someone would come looking and if it had been Darien.

Entering her spacious bedroom, she hurried over to her canopy bed and fell on to her back with an arm flung over her eyes. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, and let the memories of today come flooding back to her.

Flashback

Serenity stood in her mother's private antechamber and was fiddling with a blonde pony tail. Her mother had called her in here to reminder her of the procedures and duties to be done before the arrival of Prince Darien for Earth. She wasn't looking forward to meeting him; she could only imagine what an arrogant and stuck up man he would be, and she assumed he would be a lot older than her.

Deep in her thoughts, she jumped when Rei poked her sharply in the back. "Pay attention!" She whispered, anger giving her voice and edge. Serenity inwardly scowled at the reminder of where she was, _the Guardians are never any fun, they're way to serious, _she complained in her head.

"Serenity!... Serenity!" Her mother was saying, "Are you listening to me? You are excused! The scouts have already left" Serenity's thought scattered at the insistent tone in her mother's voice. Blushing, she curtsied and turned to leave, "And Serenity, _dear,_" Her mother added in a warning tone, "Do not be late!"

"Yes mother." She replied and walked out into the hallway. She mentally ran through her list of duties and decided which one she wanted to do first and sorted the rest out in her head till she established an order. _First I'll go down to the flower specialist, second will be the head chef, then the head maid, and finally, go to the Arrival Transportation Room. _

Serenity came to the stair case and her favorite banter to slide down, checking to make sure there were no servants around she slid down and landed with a soft thump. _I must be getting rusty if I can land on my feet any more, but oh well._ She thought about her first duty and was happy; she had actually been ordered to come and visit Mr. Thompson, well she was actually supposed to be checking up on his progress, but she knew that would only take a few moments and she could spare some time to catch up with him when that was done. She stilled remembered the day she had first discovered the Palace gardens; she had been 6 at the time and had been sneaking away from her Guardians and her Governess, Luna.

_The memory of how she got to the Gardens was pretty fuzzy, but she quiet clearly remembered her first glimpse of the flowers; it had been mid-spring and the flowers were in full bloom. At this moment she heard the voice of Mina calling for her and to her escape her she ran into the Gardens and their towering hedges. _

_She kept running and taking which ever direction presented it's self ; she didn't stop until she reached a large fountain surrounded by smaller hedges and stone benches. She decided to catch her breath and sat down on the closest bench, admiring all the bright flowers and different sounds that could be heard. She sat for a while and decided that maybe she should go back, she really didn't want to get in trouble… again. She got up and looked around, trying to remember which entrance she had come in from, at this point she began to get scared; they all looked the same, and in every direction the hedges blocked the view of the castle._

_At this point she heard a merry whistling, and looked around trying to find where it was coming from. An middle aged man holding a pot with a Midnight Lily in it came strolling in from one of the four entrances in the hedge; Serenity tried to duck down behind one of the benches so the weird man wouldn't seen her but it was to late._

"_Hello? Who's there?" He called while setting his pot down. Serenity stayed crouched down, she closed her eyes and kept repeating in her head, 'if I can't see him, he can't see me'. She was forced to open her eyes when the sounds of his boots stopped and a shadow fell over her; he had a kind face and a dirt smudge on his cheek. "Why hello, Your Little Highness! You gave me quite the scare you know! What ever are you doing out here all by yourself?" His voice was as merry as his whistle; she looked up at him and she found she wasn't scared any more. _

_She stood and gazed up at him wondering if he would be mad at her for running away and make her go back. He seemed nice and she knew she should go back now anyways, so she told him how she and the Guardians were playing then when it was time for lessons she had snuck off and ended up here. He just chuckled to himself when she was done and got down on one knee. "Well Princess Serenity, I am Mr. Thompson, the Royal Florist, and it is very nice to meet your acquaintance. Now, would you like me to take you back to the Palace or would you like to stay here till I'm done and then go back?"_

_Serenity thought about this for a while and thought about all the trouble she would be in, so she replied "Yes sir, Mr. Thompson, I would like to go back now." He took her hand and turned to his pot on the bench saying, "Now you stay here and don't move while I'm gone." She giggled at this and thought about how silly talking to a plant was._

They had made it back in short order and she had been in a lot of trouble, but this was the first of many expeditions to the Gardens. She grew to love them and learned a lot about flowers and gardening from Mr. Thompson. These lessons were almost always during the time when she was hiding from some one. She now knew all the names of the flowers that grew here, and even some from Earth, she also knew when they would bloom and many other gardening tips. And Mr. Thompson always asked her the same question he had on the day they met, even know that she knew the Gardens like the back of her hand.

Gathering her thoughts and fond memories, she strolled in to the Gathering Hall, hair and dress trialing behind, and glanced around till she found Mr. Thompson. Spotting him and catching his attention, she made her way over to him where he stood in front of a large vase of Midnight Lilies and Silver Sigh's. These were two of her favorite flowers and they looked amazing together, _I'm so glad he knows what he's doing because every one else would be quite lost._ Tilting her head to him, she formally said, "I'm glad to see you Mr. Thompson. I trust that the arrangements will be finished by the arrival time of Prince Darien?"

Bowing deeply in response he said, "Of course Your Highness, and they will be maintained as well." By the time he had finished his sentence, Princess Serenity had on a big grin and Mr. Thompson saw that the required formalities had passed. She suddenly grasped him into a childlike bear, which he returned with much affection.

"It's been to long, Princess Serenity, and oh how the Gardens miss her most precious flower!" He said after their embrace. Blushing and laughing gaily at his comment she replied, "Why Mr. Thompson, you're still as sweet as ever! And yes it has been to long indeed, but I'm a very busy Princess now."

Giving his usual chuckle, he commented "That didn't stop you before as I recall! As I remember you were there almost every day at the same time you lessons would be. Did they finally catch up with you?" Serenity shook her head with ruefulness and knowing he was right responded, "They did indeed, much to my dismay. Well it's truly been wonderful to see you but I have other duties I must attend to."

She hugged him good-bye and with a promise made to come visit him soon, she left the Gathering Hall and went to the kitchens to talk with the Head Chef. Upon arriving, she peered in the door and tried to spot Mrs. Miller, head of all cooking and meals. She was a very short and stout woman, approximately 55 years old and as stern as an ox; she commanded her kitchens with the same effectiveness and smoothness as an army. She was hard to spot, so Serenity listened for her voice and easily found her; she walked over and tapped her on the shoulder politely and waited for her to finish whipping some eggs.

"Hello Your Majesty. I assume you are here to confirm that I have the menu and banquet planned for tomorrow?" Miller stated with out setting the bowl down; Serenity opened her mouth to answer but the Head Chef was way ahead of her. "There is no need, I've already finished it and have begun preparations. Now if you'll excuse me Your Highness, I must get tonight's supper ready."

She returned to her eggs and began issuing miscellaneous commands; Serenity just shook her head at the Chef's abruptness and went on her way to the final duty before she was due at the Arrival Transportation Room. _That woman has been cooking here longer than I've been alive and she still hasn't gotten any nicer. _

Serenity found the Head Maid in the Servants quarters scolding a new maid for dropping a vase; she decided that it would cause the young girl less embarrassment if she stayed out in the hall way till she was done. A few moments later she came scurrying out and practically squeaked at the sight of finding the Princess standing in the hall way before she dropped a low curtsy and continued on her way.

"I know you're there Your Majesty. You can come in now." Came an elderly and stern voice from the same room the girl had just left. Walking in to the room, her eyes came to rest upon Helen, the Crystal Palace's Head Maid and the person who kept it running day-to-day. "Still as busy as ever I see," Serenity commented, then added, "And still sane, which quite fascinates me. What's your secret? My mother has me doing so many duties and lessons that I find myself on the brink by the time I go to bed each night."

Helen smiled sagely and answered, "It comes with age young Princess, and that you gain by living. Now tell me, have you come to gossip with this old maid, or are you here to do some of those duties you just spoke of." Serenity sighed and wished it was just a please visit. "Yes I'm afraid you're correct, it is my duties that bring me here. I'm just here to see if the room for Prince Darien is ready." At this time a servant came into the room and whispered urgently into Helen's ear. She dropped a curtsy replying, "I'm sorry but I have something I need to attend to. Oh, and yes his rooms are ready." With that she swept out of the room, leaving Serenity finished with all her tasks and plenty of time to kill before she needed to be at the arrival ceremony. _Hhmmm…what is there to do? Oh! I think I'll go out the Gardens and relax for a while._

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**Ok... so I went off on a little tagent-ish thing about Serenity's relationship with Mr. Thompson and the Garden, but I wanted to make the characters realistic and give some background information... sorry. Please Read and Review!!!**

**W/ love, Hime-chan**


	4. Chapter 4

**WOW! Fourth chapter already! Ok so same old, same old... Hope it's going ok... blah, blah, blah... Nothing is written down so it's all just coming to me... blah, blah, blah, Things will be picking up soon I promise.. Still need a beta reader...**

**Special Thanx to:**

**MoonPrincessMagic**

**Disclaimer: I Do Not own Sailor Moon, Just the characters I make up and the plot.**

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**_Chapter 4 of TsukiHime,_**

**_The Nap_**

Walking down to the Gardens, Serenity made her way through the hedges to the center of the Gardens; she beamed with delight as her eyes fell on the fountain and the four benches surrounding it. The Sun was shining brightly and the day was warm; _It's been to long since I've come here to relax. _She walked over to the closest bench and sat down taking in all the blooming flowers and brightly colored bird that flew and sang as they went about there business. She began to feel quite relaxed and lay down on the bench; slowly her eyes slid shut and she began to doze.

The next thing she knew she was being shaken awake by a very angry looking Luna. "Have you been here the whole time! Your mother and the Guardians have been worried sick! Not only did you disappear young lady, but you missed Prince Darien's arrival! I'm taking you to your mother this instant, get up!" she said. Serenity stood up and stretched and knew she was in for a very fierce scolding; Serenity silently cringed as Luna's words sunk in.

She followed her old Governess out of the Gardens and to her mother's rooms, all the while trying to think of what she could say to explain why she had disappeared. Luna went in first, supposedly to inform her mother that she had been found and where, and if Serenity knew Luna like she thought she did, she was probably discussing a punishment.

The doors opened and Serenity heard her mother's voice, "Come in Young Lady." She sounded very angry, Serenity thought, and her stomach clenched in fear at having to hear her punishment. "There aren't enough words to tell you how angry and embarrassed I am at you behavior." Her mother said in a grave tone. "And as your punishment, I want you to serve his Highness his dinner and keep him company till he is finished." As she finished saying this, Serenity was filled with dread and considered this to be a horrible punishment. She felt hot tears coming to her eyes and blinked them away; she curtsied to her mother and turned to leave and stopped when her mother added, "And I expect you to behave like the Princess you are Serenity."

"Yes mother." She mumbled and walked out heading to the kitchens down stairs. _How could she do this to me! This is horrible! Why would she make me spend time with that arrogant and stuck up Prince?... Well it actually could have been worse, although I don't know off the top of my head._ She reached the kitchens and entered only to be bombarded by Chef Miller who said, "Why it's about time that you showed up again! Is there something you're here for?"

"The Queen has ordered that I take Prince Darien his supper when he requests it." She replied trying not to clench her teeth. Chef Miller clapped her hands in delight saying, "Well your mother must have perfect timing because he has already requested supper and it's already prepared. I was just about to send one of my helpers, but I suppose royalty will serve him just the same." And with this she snapped her fingers and a servant bringing a large tray walked up and handed it to Serenity. "Thank you Chef Miller." She said and left the Kitchens head held high and back straight.

She tried not to dwell on what she was about to do, and sighed when she looked up and found she was looking at Prince Darien's doors. She knocked once, silently hoping that perhaps he had decided to go to bed instead; knocking twice and still no answer she peeked into the doors and saw that no one was there. _Well my mother didn't state that I had to stay and keep him company if he wasn't there when she delivered his supper. So I suppose that I'll just put it down on the writing desk and go to my room._

She set down the tray and jumped slightly as she heard someone enter the room, _Darn it!_ Looking up she saw a young and handsome man walk in wearing nothing but pants; she couldn't help herself as her eyes roamed over his deliciously muscular, but not overly so, hot body. _He is definitely NOT what I expected! This must be a mistake! Or are they all like this where he is from?_ Feeling a heated blush form on her cheeks she bowed down trying to hide it.

He had apparently forgotten how gorgeous he was until he bowed in return, and realized that he had on no shirt. Seeing him going to get his shirt, Serenity decided that she most defiantly needed to sit down. When she saw that he had his shirt back on she explained why she had walked in on him, and then feeling that she had to explain why it was her serving him his food she added, "My mother has asked that I deliver you your dinner and keep you company while you eat, since I….. Missed, you welcome." She tried not to say this through clench teeth but with no success; she was still furious at her mother, but a little less so now that she had seen the Prince of the Earth.

She could feel the heat from blushing on her cheeks spread as she saw him looking at her overall appearance. She looked down at her skirts and began to pick off little bits of imaginary dust so she wouldn't have to explain herself further. At this point her hearing picked up a loud rumble from Darien, who had taken a seat across from her, and she wondered when the last time he had eaten was. He pulled back the cover and a look of surprise flashed across his face; he looked from the tray to her and said, "Thank you." And paused before adding, "And by the way, nice buns."

_How Dare he! I was right! He is nothing more than an arrogant and stuck up prince. He hasn't even known me more than a few moments and he's already insulting me! _Serenity Hated to be teased about her hair, it was the one thing that really set off her temper. She noticed that he had taken one bite then stopped chewing, _oh great! Now we're not good enough cook's for him…_ "Is every thing alright with your food?" she asked haughtily, "I can order you different food or have them reheat this if that is what you want." Darien looked down at his plate and finished his bite before mumbling, "Ah no, that won't be needed! Everything is absolutely delicious, and the temperature is wonderful." Thinking that he should say more he added, "I... um... that is, thank you very much for taking time to bring it up to me, and if you wish to return to your rooms I won't be offended."

_Is He TRYING to get me in trouble! Or does he think me company just isn't good enough for his royal-pain-in-the-ass-ness? I hope he eats fast or he may not live to be the Earth's diplomat for much longer._ She was practically raving in her head and didn't want to be near him for a single second longer, so she stood up and saw that the balcony doors where open.

She walked over to the balcony entrance and stopped; something felt…different, she didn't turn around and look at Darien, but she was sure he was watching her. She all felt that she didn't mind, it didn't feel malicious, and she was pretty sure that he wasn't leering at her, just merely entranced by her swaying hips. She silently thanked her mother for those lessons on how to walk like a Princess, and how to walk like a woman. Her mother had told her that some times you needed to separate the two and simple little things can make all the difference.

Hoping to find him admiring her body she abruptly turned around to face him, causing her hair and dress to twirl behind her as well, she asked the first question that came to mind. "What is it like?" she asked adding a little bit of dramatic wistfulness to her tone, "Please tell me, I've never been to the Earth." After asking this she turned to face the floating plant and smiled to herself as she caught a glimpse of Darien's startled expression, but it was her turn to be startled by his answer. _It really does sound like he loves his planet; maybe he isn't just an arrogant prince, it's hard to tell what he's really like when he keeps surprising me like this. But I feel that I can relate, I too love the Moon; it's my one and only home._

She didn't really notice that he had stop speaking and had asked her a question until he asked her again, "If I may ask, why were you interested?" She replied, ""It's just that my grandmother…" _Oh! I can't tell him that! Not even my mother knows that story..._ She thought frantically before finishing, "I mean I've heard stories about your planet and I became curious."

_Oh, like he'll really buy that excuse! Great thinking Serenity… I so hope that he won't wonder still._ She turned to face him at this point and looked at his face trying to read what he was thinking, and saw that his food was gone.

End Flashback

From that point on she remembered had happened to her just a while ago. _My goodness, a lot has happened today. _She thought to herself. A small grin played across her lips as the thought of Darien without a shirt crossed her mind and decided she needed to open her eyes. She sat up on her bed looking around to see if Lisa had put her night gown out, spotting she saw that it was laying folded neatly on her vanity; she knew she needed to get changed and go to bed.

She went about her normal nightly routine humming to herself; she found that she was no longer mad at her mother or peeved with Luna, and for some reason she felt really happy all of a sudden. She decided that it was due to the fact that tomorrow was the 7th and that meant she had a off from her lessons and duties and could do as she pleased. Her mother all ways allowed her the 7th, 15th, and 23rd of each month as days off from her normal Princess schedule.

Serenity slipped off her normal gown and shivered as the cool air in the room hit her creamy skin, and quickly pulled the pink night gown over her head. This being done she proceeded to take down her precarious hair do and brush it out before putting it into two braids for the night. When she was done with all her other miscellaneous night time necessities, she quickly jumped on to her pink and yellow comforter and snuggled down in between her multitude of pillows and drifted off to sleep.

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**All done!! Ok so it looks like little things Were being noticed.. sorry but the lemon will have to wait a while.. sorry all you hentais and pervs out there.. I enjoy writing the details and having a developed plot.. but as a favorite author of mine would say.. those smuttbunnies can be persistent.. and that lemon has been floating around in my head for a very long time now.. so just hold on please… this is a Love Story after all..**

**Please read and Review! Any little thing would me most appreciated!**

**W/Love, Hime-chan**


	5. Chapter 5

**This is going better than I thought it would.. wow.. I haven't hit any road blocks yet so it's all good…and my work ethic hasn't gone down.. ok! well here is the next chapter.. hope you enjoy!**

**p.s. Still looking for a person to be my beta reader.. (I promise I won't bite.. well I'll try not to bite any ways…. Just kidding)**

**Special Thanx to:**

**MoonPrincessMagic – thank you for being honest!**

**Sailormoonloverlol – Hope this is soon enough!**

**Shadow's Moon Hime – Thank you for taking time to review!**

**Disclaimer: I Do Not own Sailor Moon, I just own the characters I make up and the plot… so no touchy..**

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_**Chapter 5 of TsukiHime,**_

_**The Morning After**_

_Serenity heard a loud knock at the doors of her sitting room; startled and wondering who that could be so early in the morning, she put her book down and stood up from her chair to go open them. Yet before she could reach them Prince Darien came striding through the doors and into the room; his eyes went straight to her and she noticed she could feel as well as see his eyes gazing over her scantily night gown clad body and shivered. He reached her in three long steps, his strong hands came to rest on her elbows stopping her where she was and without words Serenity knew he hadn't come here to speak. She felt a flutter of nervousness in her stomach as he lowered his head to hers, and her eyes came to rest on his lips, his perfect lips, lips that were currently only a few inches away from her own and coming closer. She broke her gaze away and closed her eyes and eagerly awaited the kiss that was sure to fall upon her lips…_

Serenity's eyes shot open at the feeling of being roughly shaken and a persistent voice telling her to get up. She cracked one eye open and saw Lisa was standing over her bed with a slightly worried look upon her face. Seeing that her Princess was now awake, she immediately removed her hands from touching her and began to stutter incoherent reasons that were too jumbled and too fast for Serenity to understand first thing in the morning. Closing her eye and trying to control her irritation she said, "Slow down Lisa and stop mumbling. Why are you here so early and so urgently?"

The young girl swallowed nervously before saying, "I'm sorry to have had to resort to that your Highness, but you would not wake up no matter what I tried, I was beginning to get worried. As to why I am here, I am here because your mother ordered it of me. She said that she wanted to see you start getting up earlier." At hearing this Serenity huffed and had to reign in her irritation again, _why can't this girl think for once!_ She thought to herself before saying out loud, "Lisa you do realize what today is correct? The one day of the month that the Whole Entire Palace gets to sleep in. The cooks probably aren't even in the kitchen yet and breakfast probably won't be served for another several hours. I am quiet sure my mother meant for you to wake me earlier on the days that I have lessons, even if she didn't specifically say so." She tried to explain this as patiently as she could and knowing she didn't succeed very well, she rolled over on to her side and added, "Now if you'll excuse me I think that I'll be getting a little more sleep. You are excused for the day, but I except to see you here later this evening."

She kept her eyes closed until she was sure that Lisa had left and she was alone; when she heard the door to her rooms close she opened her eyes slowly and blinked a couple times to let them adjust to the brightness in her room. Now what had that dream been about, her body felt… weird… if only she could remember, maybe she could figure out why she felt like this. Then it hit her and she remembered all the details; his gaze, her shivers, his lips.

_Oh My Goodness! There is No way I could have dreamed about Prince Darien like that! What could have caused this to happen! I only met him last night and now I'm having these dreams about him! I can't tell any one about this! The Guardians, who would probably corner him and threaten him with every vile thing they could think of, and I can tell my mother, she would probably send him home and that would probably lead to ruining the relationship of the Earth Kingdom and the Moon Kingdom, and then that would probably lead to god only knows what._

Serenity squeezed her eyes shut and tried to erase the dream and the feelings it brought. This not working she decided that perhaps getting up now after all would be for the best, and if she had any luck at all she would avoid a meeting with Prince Darien until the memory of the dream faded a little. She pulled her covers back and swung her legs over the side; glancing about her sunlit bedroom, she noticed that a clean gown was lay across the back of the chair for her vanity. She stood up, went over to her vanity and got dressed for the day, remembering to lay her night gown on her bed before she finished getting ready. She always forgot to put it there if she didn't do it right after took it off; she continued next with her hair by taking it out of the braids and brushing it till it shone in the early morning rays that found their way into her bedroom.

When finished putting up her hair and dressing, she was proud of herself for managing not to have a single thought pertaining to the dream cross her mind. _Maybe this won't take so long after all! And if I can avoid Darien then I won't have to explain any awkwardness that sure to happen when I face him._ She walked out in to her sitting room and immediately wished she hadn't; her mind tried to shove the memory away but her body began to betray her. She rushed out of the room before anything else happened that she didn't understand.

She stopped and realized that she hadn't meant to rush out into the hallway like that, she had planned on peeking out and making sure that Darien wasn't out here. She looked around and was relieved to find herself alone; most of the servant were probably enjoying the one day off they had to sleep in and she didn't blame them. She began walking down the west wing's hallway and ran over a list of things she could do before breakfast; she decided that she would go down to the Gardens again, but this time to see Mr. Thompson and hopefully not fall asleep.

When she reached the banter for the stairs to the first floor she didn't even check to see if any one was around before she slid down to the bottom. Today was the only day she did that and didn't have to worry, who was around to see her any ways? She went into autopilot on the way out to the Gardens and began to think about how beautiful the day was and what she wanted to do after breakfast. She reached them in short order and took in a deep breath then sighed with pleasure as the blooming flower's fragrance met her.

Making her way to the center fountain like all ways she stopped a she approached the entrance in the hedge; she clearly heard voices, two voice, two very distinctly male voices. The first one she knew by heart belonged to Mr. Thompson, and the other sounded vaguely familiar and sent a shiver down her back. She very quietly peeped around the corner and was met with the view of two backs; she had been right about Thompson and the other, well the other was the person she wanted to see the least right now. A blush crossed her face as the thought of how good his butt looked and she turned to leave before she was heard, but being the curious girl that she was decided to see what they were talking about and why that man was in Her garden.

She still couldn't understand what they were saying but she saw an item pass from Mr. Thompson's hand to Darien's and lot's of head nodding. When she couldn't stand it any more and she decided it was time to make her presence known, she walked around the corner and stood behind them and coughed slightly when they didn't notice her. Both jumped and turned around hiding the object behind one of their backs; Mr. Thompson was the first one to recover and bowed deeply and saying, "Good Morning Your Majesty, is it pleasant to see you again. And oh how the Gardens are delighted to harbor such a splendid flower."

Serenity blushed at this comment and let out a little laugh of delight before she could stop it, then replying, "And good morning to you as well Mr. Thomson, it is wonderful to see the radiance of the Gardens and know it is because you are so gifted." Darien had stood up straight by now and was waiting patiently for this exchange to end before he bowed saying, "Good Morning Princess" to which Serenity returned in kind by curtsying and replying, "Good Morning Prince of Earth." Now having the greetings out of the way she walked over to a bench and sat down before looking up at them with an_ I-know-you-were-up-to-something-and-you-Are-going-to-tell-me-what-it-was _look.

Then taking Serenity by surprise, Darien's face broke out into a boyish grin and laughed out loud before saying, "Your are a curious Princess aren't you? It's nothing really, the maid who showed me to my rooms yesterday told me that the Crystal Palace Gardens were beautiful and that my father had helped in their construction. I thought that I would enjoy then so I came out here this morning and ran into Mr. Thompson along the way. He was so kind as to show me around and wanted to show me some flowers he had grown since the last time my father was here."

Serenity tried to hide the indignation she felt at his first comment, _he sounds like he talking to a toddler! I'm 19 years old and he's insinuating that I'm So much Younger than him.. what the hell is wrong with him, and what is wrong with me for ever checking him out much less dreaming about him!_ She felt a little better as Mr. Thompson chuckled and intervened by adding his side of the story, "Well Prince Darien is correct, Ms. Curious Princess; I was proud of my work and wanted to show him so that he could bear news to his father when he goes back home, that was all."

Serenity knew that she could believe Mr. Thompson with her life and Darien hadn't given her a reason not to trust him… yet… she just didn't care for his condescending attitude and careless comments, so she asked, "Well then Gentlemen, please enlighten me as to why you both looked like I had caught you with your hand in the cookie jar?" At this Darien gave another rich laugh then said, "Well your Highness, it seems that during my adolescent years I had quiet the problem with cookie jars and myself, therefore it seems to me to be a natural reaction."

Serenity very nearly huffed in exasperation at this and stood up and decided she had had enough and she was going to go back to the Palace and see if the kitchens were open yet. At this Mr. Thompson spoke up asking, "Would you like Prince Darien to take you back to the Palace or would you like to stay here till I'm done and then go back?"

"Yes going back now would be wonderful Mr. Thompson." Serenity replied to the same question he asked every time she was out here, but then she blinked and realized how he had worded it and what she had just agreed to. At this Prince Darien walked over to her and held out an arm for declaring it would be his honor to escort her back to the Palace.

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**So this was a sorta long chapter and I'm splitting it into two so that I can update faster… I hoped you liked it and there is more to come..**

**Please read and Review! Any little comment is most appreciated!**

**W/ Love, Hime-chan**


	6. Chapter 6

**I've had the past five days off so that might explain why I've been able to get out so many chapters a day, and I'm hoping I won't slow down on the updates to much… Ok so onward! You'll see some of the Guardians in this chapter and maybe a wet dream or two… no, no, I'm just kidding.. that was the smuttbunnies talking I'm sorry…I really just don't want to rush into it… you know…politics and all.. no seriously.. ok! Ok! you caught me! So if you've actually just read this whole authors note I truly commend you for your patience! And hope I made you laugh!**

**p.s. ….still need beta reader/ editor…**

**Special Thanx to….**

**MoonPrincessMagic – You're pretty amazing! Thanx for the feedback!**

**Shadow's Moon Hime – Thank you for understanding!**

**Sailormoonloverlol – It's updated!**

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**Disclaimer- I Do Not own Sailor Moon, I just own any characters I make up and the plot (mine!)**

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**_Chapter 6 of TsukiHime,_**

**_The Morning Walk_**

Serenity couldn't be rude and she must act appropriate, but that didn't mean she couldn't be pissed off inside her head. She took Darien's arm gently and as dainty as a perfect Princess should but her other hand was balled up into a tight fist, so tight that she felt she had to stop so that her nails wouldn't break the skin of her palm.

Darien felt a little stiff as she took his arm and they started out but she felt him relax as they began to walk through the Gardens and toward the Palace. As they walked on the mental picture of him with out his shirt on kept coming back to her, and that seemed to inevitably lead to the dream from last night and on top of that she couldn't help but notice that it was as nice to touch as it was to look at.

She didn't say anything since she found that she was quiet concentrated on banishing these inappropriate images and thoughts from her head when something drew her attention. It wasn't sound or something she saw, but a smell, a very nice smell; it banished all other thoughts away as she looked around trying to find out where it was coming from. Darien noticed and startled her by asking, "Is something the matter?" Serenity looked up at him and looked away as she blushed; she had sort of forgotten that he was with her and the source of the smell became quiet clear.

"You smell nice." She blurted out, _I Did NOT just say that out loud did I? Oh he must think I'm so weird now... Why did I say that much less think it!?_ When he didn't say anything she stole a glance at him trying not to be obvious; she saw his face was turned away she silently cursed him. They continued on for a while before he spoke, "Do you come to the Gardens often? You and Mr. Thompson seem to know each other pretty well." Feeling a little less uncomfortable she decided to tell him of how she had come to find the Gardens and how she had met the kind royal florist.

By the time she had finished her tale her was laughing heartily, that rich, deep, wonderful laugh of his. Serenity found that his laugh was contagious and joined him when she had finished telling him the Guardians reactions. When they had both calmed down and caught their breath he proceeded to ask, "The Guardians are your protectors correct? " At this Serenity nodded and he continued, "And the pretty blonde young lady is the leader right?"

_Pretty blonde young lady? Ha! If he thinks that he can get any where with Mina he would be sorely disappointed.. and serves him right. _And yet, after all the rude comments he had said to her she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, but before this could blossom into anything worse he asked another question. "So where are the Guardians from? Are they from surrounding rich families or political ties?" She hadn't been prepared for this statement and almost stopped walking while she considered how to word her answer.

"Well it sort of could be considered political, but it's also a tradition. My four Guardians are actually Princesses as well as my protectors. Mina, _the pretty blond young lady_, is the Princess of Venus and yes she is the Leader; she's almost exactly a year older than me and very nearly a sister. Rei, the one with long black hair is the one in the middle, she is the Princess of Mars and she has an attitude to match the reputation her planet. Amy has short dark blue hair and is the brains of the Guardians; she is the second youngest and only six months older than me and the Princess of Mercury. And last but not least is Lita with the one with red, bronze colored wavy hair; she is the Princess of Jupiter. She's very protective of me as well as being a martial arts master and an aspiring cook."

By the time she was done describing her beloved Guardians they had made it back into the Palace and to the morning dining hall. The multiple long tables where decked out in a feast of breakfast cuisines large enough to feed any one, even the pickiest of eaters. As Serenity and Darien approached the entrance of the morning dining hall, the two literally jumped apart at the sound of an angry female voice. "Serenity! Where were you this morning? You were supposed to meet me in the court yard the morning for you weapons lesson." Serenity and Darien turned around to face an angry look Mina, when she stopped and curtsied, then added in a much more pleasant voice, "Oh, Good Morning Prince Darien, I didn't see you there."

Serenity was mortified at having been just chewed out in front of Darien, even though she hadn't actually missed a lesson, she thought it was only a small consolation that she got to tell her Guardian/ Teacher that. "Mina, Good morning to you too. I'm glad to see you remembered the date today, since it is one of the ones I was given off by my mother, the Queen." Mina barely batted an eye at this before replying, "And I'm sorry Serenity but the person who is trying to attack you isn't going to stop just because it is one of your days off!"

As she said that Serenity knew she was right and began to feel guilty at having blown off her best friend and spent it with a man who irritates her, even if it was an accident. Yet she almost blushed as Darien who had been quiet through out this spoke up saying, "The concern you show for the Princess Serenity is quite commendable but I assure you that she was quite safe while in my care, and forever will be." Serenity almost laughed out loud at the expression Mina wore and almost forgot to blush in the process as his words sunk in.

When Mina was able to speak again she managed to get out, "As leader of the Guardians, I thank you for taking it upon yourself for watching over our mischievous Moon Princess." Before she could say anymore, Serenity had grabbed her arm and was trying to prevent her from saying anything else that she considered to be highly unnecessary. She cut Mina off saying, "Thank you for escorting me back Prince Darien, and I hope you enjoy your breakfast."

He seemed startled by this and replied, "Thank you for gracing me with your company, and may you enjoy the rest of your day Buns." Then turning away and walking over to a food laden table and choosing a seat near Luna who was reading a list of some sort.

Mina snickered at this and repeated the awful nickname with a raised eyebrow. Serenity stammered and stomped her foot in anger before walking off to a different table that her mother was sitting at. Mina now smirking came over and sat down across the table and didn't say anything while to filled their plates, but after this task was done she looked ready to pop from not asking the question so Serenity cut her off before her mother would pick up on what was going on. "I hate the nickname, no nothing happened this morning, no I don't like him, yes I think he's ok looking, no nothing happened last night, now drop the subject."

She still didn't look satisfied, so Serenity added, "Alright, you can ask one question, so think carefully." Mina took a bite of the eggs on her plate and sat there with contemplative look on her face; when she finished chewing she said, "Alright since you don't seem to be into him can I have him?" Before Serenity could think and stop herself she shouted rather loudly, "NO!" and in an attempt to explain why she feebly sputtered out, "I mean I don't think that would be a very good idea, I mean what if you fell in love and decided to leave me and go to the Earth with him, I would be heart broken and…" She trailed off at this point as she saw how skeptical Mina looked and knew she wasn't being convincing enough; her mother at this point also seemed to be paying attention was giving her a quizzical stare.

Before she could explain herself to her mother she said, "Young Lady, that was not the appropriate tone for a Princess while at the breakfast table. Now would you please explain the reason for such an outburst?" Serenity opened her mouth to explain herself yet again but Mina beat her to it saying, "Yes I quite agree with you on that your Majesty, she really does need to work on her volume skills, but I'm afraid I'm partially that cause for it. You see I had expected your daughter to meet me for a weapons lesson this morning in the courtyard so naturally worried I went looking for her, only to find her strolling in here arm and arm with Prince Darien." At this Queen Serelaina's eyes raised in a questioning manner, but she didn't interrupt and Mina continued.

"At first I didn't even notice Prince Darien standing there and I began to.. scold her if you will about missing a lesson and about it's importance. As I drew closer and the two had jumped apart to face me I said the proper greetings to his Royal Highness, only to have him impress upon me that she was perfectly safe with him and forever would be when in his company. After we said our good-byes, Serenity dragged me over here and we just started chit chatting and she just responded a little strongly to a question. Nothing major my Queen."

Serenity didn't know whether to kick her under the table for making her sound so thoughtless as to forget her meeting this morning and insinuating that she was together with Darien or to hug her for not repeating the question and answer that had brought the attention of almost every one present. Thankfully her mother decided that would suffice and they all continued eating in silence.

Serenity and Mina finished eating at the same time and got up and left the morning dining hall together discussing what they wanted to do for the rest of the day. Mina suggested that they reschedule their weapons lesson to right now and Serenity decided that she might as well since she didn't have any plans. They went up to her rooms where she changed out of her gown and into a pair of soft light brown breeches and a light pink silk blouse with laces around the collar. She used to think this a foolish outfit to fight in but after several practices she saw why; the breeches were flexible and comfortable allowing her a wide variety of stances and the silk shirt was nice and kept her cool even on the most intense days of training.

She folded her gown and went to put it on her vanity when she smelt it slightly, _It smells like him! I had forgotten how good he smelled after I told him about the Guardians and him calling me Buns…_ Resisting the urge to burry her face into her gown she set it down and began to contemplate whether or not she liked smelling like him, even if it was only a little. She walked out of her bedroom only to be met by an amused looking Mina, "And if you don't mind me asking, what is so funny?" Serenity asked her slightly irritated.

As they walked out into the hall way Mina gave a very pointed look at the double doors across from the ones they had just left and chuckled before saying, "I do believe I may have to come sleep in your sitting room Princess, it seems I had quite forgotten that the Earth's Diplomat's quarters where located here. And you never no the attentions of a man, especially some one as beautiful as yourself."

For the rest of the day Mina and Serenity practiced in the cool shade of the courtyard, only taking breaks for a quick lunch and supper. When both were worn and tired they decided to call it a night and both retired to the rooms for the night.

START OF DARIEN'S POV

Darien turned around and walked into the Morning Dining Hall he could feel the waves of malice flowing off the Princess he just left; he could not believe what he had just said in those last few moments. _What possessed me to say that I would always protect her? And then I called her Buns?_ Maybe it was fatigue or something he thought while he sat down next a woman he had no idea who she was. He filled up his platewith almost everything he could reach from where he was sitting and looked down at it hungrily. Still trying to figure out what was wrong with him, the dream from last night kept coming up as a reason; he kept trying to banish the memories of it but after seeing her today hadn't helped any.

He began to space out and automatically eat as he started to replay the dream in his mind for what he felt was the hundredth time…

_Darien stood there in nothing but pants holding the door open for a bathrobe clad Moon Princess. She asked him if he had eaten supper yet in a melodious voice that said more than her words did, to which his reply was a stammered no. She smiled devilishly at this and came all the way in to the room only to shut the door behind her and lean back against it. A long, white creamy leg stuck out from the slit in the robe and it seemed it would go on for ever; at this Darien swallowed hard and felt his body begin to awaken. Her head was turned to the side and revealed even more luscious skin and he began to imagine how his lips would feel pressed against her neck. He took a step towards her and closed the distance, his head going down to find her neck…_

Suddenly a light splash of water hit him across the bridge of his nose and almost made him jump as his dream ended. It had never gotten past that, and this morning when he had seen her in the morning light he was reminded of curves and hair and her neck. He felt foolish for noticing these things about her but he couldn't help but see her as a woman, a very beautiful, very sexy, and very curvaceous woman.

Looking around the table and trying to figure out where the water had come from he figured it had come from the woman sitting next to him that was dripping water. He grabbed the napkin that next to his plate and handed it to her with out a word and looked away as a tall man with silver hair began patting her down. She let out a girlish giggle before swatting his hand away saying, "Artemis! Not in public dear!" As to what he had been doing Darien hadn't a clue and was glad his face had been averted.

Deciding this was his cue and that he suddenly didn't feel so hungry anymore, he got up from the table and walked out of the hall and began to wonder what he would do with the rest of his day….

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**All done done! Wow have I written a lot these past couple days! Hope you liked it! I'll try to post another chapter or two tomorrow! But I'm going back to work and school soon so they won't be able to come as fast as before.. please don't forget about me!**

**Please read and Review! Any little comment would be most welcome!**

**W/Love, Hime-chan**


	7. Chapter 7

**Seven chapters in less than a week! I'm so on a roll! … Sorry this online wasn't on faster, but I had a nasty virus on my computer and it was really hard to get off… hopefully the little bugger won't come back… ok so this chapter is still Darien's POV (hopefully you can tell.) I'm not sure in which order or when they will change but I may throw in the Queen's POV and maybe some of the Guardians' as well. Ok now on with the story!**

**p.s…. beta reader/ editor position is still open.**

**I send my thanx to…**

**MoonPrincessMagic - thank you for reviewing for each chapter!**

**RoyalLovers1418 – I'm so happy you liked! Thank you for adding me to your C2!**

**Shadow's Moon Hime – I'm glad you favorited it!**

**Disclaimer: I Do Not own Sailor Moon. Just the characters I created, the plot and my own little world…**

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**_Chapter 7 of TsukiHime,_**

**_The Rest-Days_**

He walked out of the hall then, feeling that he needed to sit back down, walked over to the first bench he saw. _What am I thinking! These dreams are completely out of line! I've only known her for less than a 24 hour period and now I'm having dirty dreams about her. I really must stop thinking about her in such an inappropriate way and make sure I don't act unusual, lest any one start to suspect._ Feeling better, Darien stood up and began to wonder through the Palace and tried to keep his thoughts in check. He wondered if the Queen was busy; Darien had seen her leave the Morning Dining Hall well before he had finished eating. Thinking that it had been enough time for her to finish her morning duties, he made his way up to the east wing hall way and her meeting room.

He managed to find the way to the correct wing just fine but had to ask a near by dusting maid where the meeting room could be find. As Darien approached the doors she had indicated to, he heard a large crash that sounded of multiple pieces of glass being broken. He hurried to the door and knocked hoping to get a quick response and was thankful when an irritated voice replied, "You may come in." Darien pushed open the door to reveal a cluttered mess of broken china all over the carpet, a crying maid, and the Queen who looked irritated.

A few moments later the cheery old maid who had shown Darien to his room came bustling in behind him and tskd at the situation. "Again Heather? This is the third time this month young lady." She said sternly to the distraught maid. The she turned to the Queen and curtsied deeply before apologizing profusely and ushering out the crying girl out of the room, while calling for the dusting maid to come clean the mess. Queen Serelaina only responded by smiling kindly and saying, "Thank you Helen. Could you please see what you could do to get the poor child calmed down?" Helen nodded and began to leave when Serelaina added, "And perhaps you could find her a job that doesn't involve breakable items, it would be most appreciated."

After this exchange, the Queen turned to Darien and greeted him politely; they both took a seat and poured themselves something to drink. They exchanged a few pleasantries and miscellaneous things before she finally got around to asking him the purpose of this visit. "Is there something I can do for you Prince Darien?" She asked. He thought about his answer and why he had really come to visit her before he said, "I'm not sure as to what the normal procedures are during these diplomatic trips. I don't seem to recall going over when our meetings would take place and I feel that I am wasting my time."

She nodded every now and then as he spoke and by the time that he had finished she wore a knowing smile. "There is no need to worry, your father was the same way." She said kindly, then seeing his confessed expression she added, "You see it is customary to give the Guest three days of rest before we begin. That means if you choose to you could stay in bed all day." Then she laughed lightly before saying, "But it seems you are a restless Prince. I heard you went down to the Gardens this morning, did you enjoy them? I hope my daughter did nothing to offend you while you were enjoying each others company." Darien lowered his head and this and stared at his cup as she said this; he was hoping she couldn't see his heated cheeks because it was such an un-manly thing to do. _Well if you consider her making me have inappropriate dreams about her as an offence then yes, but I fear that I was the one to do the upsetting._

All this he thought to himself before saying out loud. "No Your Majesty. Her company was quite enjoyable, although she was a little suspicious at finding me in her garden so early this morning. But we did walk back to the Palace together and she old me about her Princess Guardians."

Following this they discussed a few other various things and sipped their drinks before Darien parted with her and said he was going to go and enjoy the remaining time to rest. He meandered around the top floor of the large palace and came upon a spacious balcony that opened up over the courtyard. Curiosity got the best of him as his ears picked up what sounded like wooden swords and heavy breathing. Darien slowly walked up to the railing and peering over the edge, he almost gasped as he saw the young woman he had called 'buns' just this morning all hot, sweaty, and very much disheveled as she parried an attack from her Princess slash Guardian, Mina.

_So this is her weapons lesson Mina was yelling her about this morning. I thought that it would just be basic skills, not swordsmanship, and from the looks of it she seems to be really good._ Darien tried to focus on her fighting skills but her appearance was slowly distracting him from what he had originally started watching. She wore soft brown breeches that show off her womanly curves and a light pink blouse that clung to her like a second skin; he thought that it looked to be made of silk from where he was, he was to far way to be sure. Her hair was put up into one large braid and had started to come out around her face, which at the moment had a look of concentration and delight. Everything about her made her beauty glow and almost took his breath away.

He finally managed to tear his eyes from her body and to look at what she was doing; the more he watched the more he saw that she was really good, for a girl any ways. Then a thought crossed his mind, what if he asked her to spar with him tomorrow? Would she except? Was that allowed? He decided that to find out he would have to ask her, and since she seemed busy currently he would go to her rooms tonight and talk to her then.

The sound of giggling broke through his thought and when he looked over the railing again and down into the courtyard he saw that they had stopped to eat what was probably lunch. He decided that he would not care to be caught watching the girls and returned to inside the hall way. He thought about going back to his room and following the Queens advice to stay in his bed all day when he accidentally ran into someone as he went around a corner. Seeing that he had knocked down a poor girl and had caused her to drop the books she was holding he immediately bent down to pick them up and help her up.

She had short dark blue and a dreamy look on her face, and from Princess Serenity's description of her Princess Guardians he assumed that she was none other than the Princess of Mercury and her name was Amy. When she was up and brushed off, Darien bowed and said, "My apologies Princess of Mercury, I appeared to have not been paying attention and was careless in running you over." Amy blushed at this and curtsied deeply before she replied, "There is no need to apologize, Prince Darien and please call me Amy. And while I protect Princess Serenity I am nothing more than a Guardian, which quite takes up a lot of my time." Darien noticed that she seemed to be in some what of a hurry and didn't wish to be rude to a visiting Prince he bade her farewell and made his way up to his room.

As he approached his doors his stomach gave a growl of hunger and instead of entering them he just turned around and went down to the Dining Hall. He reached it shortly and chose a fairly empty table that was once again laden heavily with a large assortment of foods. Just as he began eating the woman who he had sat down next to at breakfast joined him. Neither of them said anything while she put the food on her plate and took a bite, then thinking that this would be a good time to apologize he opened his mouth when she spoke. "I would like to say sorry for this morning's incident, no fault was yours and it was a careless mistake on my part for spilling my goblet on ice water. I also want to say sorry from what ever discomfort me and Artemis may have given you. I feel ashamed because we haven't been properly introduced yet."

At this point she set her fork down and stood up, and then she curtsied deeply before continuing, "I am Luna, Adviser to Queen Serelaina and Ex-Governess to Princess Serenity. I was able to be present at you welcoming due to the fact that the Princess was... missing, and I was looking for her." Through out all this Darien didn't say anything as he listened with a sense of awe at the reversal, he had been more than prepared to be the one to apologize, but all this was interrupted once again as his stomach rumbled loudly again. Luna smiled at this and sat down at that table and signaled that they could begin eating again. After this his lunch went fairly uneventful; he and Luna spoke of little things, such as the lunch they were eating, and how was he fairing from his trip, and other trivial things just to make conversation. Darien excused himself when he was finished and went up to his rooms where he promptly decided to take a nap in hoping to pass the time more quickly till he thought it was appropriate to visit Princess Serenity's rooms.

He lay down on his bed and as sleep fell upon him a image of Serenity in her training outfit flashed across his memory….

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**All done done! ...well this chapter was a little shorter than the rest… I really wanted it to be longer but it just didn't work out that way… I've also been short on time these past couple days so... I haven't had time to type this up and give you guys a good story too… so all my fellow lemon lovers needed to wait a little bit longer before I can realistically tie it in... But these smuttbunnies are getting angry with me so I may have to do a one shot that's been floating around in my head for a while... it's not sailor moon but I might do it to keep them from kidnapping me at gun point.**

**The next chapter will be in the next couple days so please keep checking up!**

**Please read and Review!**

**W/ Love, Hime-chan**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm slowing down a little on the updating… School will do that to you though so... This chapter is up a lot faster than I thought it would be… my computer is doing good so that won't interfere any more but I do have home work and other things that prevent me from being able to get on and write. I had five days off from school and now that I'm back to school and such I've been pretty exhausted and that's making it a little hard to concentrate... and that's besides my ADD (just kidding.) So the beginning of this chapter is in Darien's POV, but a little ways in I will switch to Serenity's… now on with the show… story… thingy…**

**p.s. I'm still looking for a beta/editor!**

**My Thanx to:**

**MoonPrincessMagic – Thank you again! **

**RoyalLovers1418 – I'm glad you liked it! Thanx for reviewing! **

**Shadow's Moon Hime – Lol... Oh the suspense… and maybe a few other things…**

**Disclaimer – I Do Not own Sailor Moon… but I do own any characters I've made up and my plot… but I do wish I owned Darien... boy all the things I would do… ok so any ways…**

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_**Chapter 8 of TsukiHime,**_

_**The Bathrobe**_

Darien rolled on to his back and cracked an eye open. Seeing that it was dark out he panicked and sat up; then standing up he went over to the door and poked his head out to see if any one was about. Luckily a servant was watering a near by plant so he asked, "Excuse me good sir, but how long has it been since the sun set?" The servant looked startled at being addressed so before replying, "It has been merely three quarters of an hour if I'm not mistaken Your Highness."

Thanking the man he closed the door and walked back over to his bed then sat down with a sigh. Darien raked a hand through his hair and felt relief wash over him at the knowledge that it wasn't to late to talk to Princess Serenity. Standing up again he went into his bathroom and splashed some cool water on his face and tried to work out some of the wrinkles that had appeared in his shirt during his nap.

With this finished he double checked his appearance in the full length mirror and stored out of his room to the silver gilded doors of the Moon Princess. _So this is nothing more than asking her to spar with me, nothing else. I'm not going to begin thinking about my dream, or her practice outfit, or anything along those lines. _Then after this mental preparation he knocked on her doors and waited. He didn't have to wait long before the same made who had answered previously opened the doors. "Is Princess Serenity available? I would like to talk with her for a moment." He asked. The young girl opened the doors all the way to let him in.

He looked around and saw that the Princess' sitting room was fairly simple and chose a plush arm chair to sit in. He watched as the maid went to a door that probably led to Serenity's bedroom and let her know that he was here when they opened on their own and a barely clad Princess came walking out.

Darien's eyes went wide as he took in what she was wearing; it was a pale pink satin bathrobe that ended just above then knee, it was damp and clung to her body which left nothing to the imagination. After his eyes stopped roaming and saw that her hair was wrapped up into towel, he looked at her face and saw a look of pure mortification. Serenity had frozen where she had stopped but when their eyes met, she immediately blushed bright pink and went back into her bedroom.

SERENITY'S POV

Once she was in her room and the door locked she flung herself on to her bed and began to think about how to deal with this horrible situation. _Why did this happen? I don't know if I can ever show my face again… Wait! I am a Princess! I can deal with this! So what if he just looked at me like a real woman, I really can't say that I didn't like it. What am I saying! NO! Ok, ok, just calm down and get dressed, but in what?_

She looked around her room and saw that her gown that she had worn earlier was still on her vanity. She walked over and was about it put it on when she remembered what it smelt like and wondered if he would notice. Then deciding against wearing it she took her hair down from her towel and went over to her dresser and pulled out a long night gown and a long robe, neither showed any skin or accented her curves.

She paced around her room a couple time before gaining enough composure to go back out to her sitting room. She managed to keep her eyes from going straight to Darien who was sitting in an arm chair, and looked around for her maid, Lisa. She was standing near the door and looked very, very pale, _I mustn't be mad at her, she was on her way to come tell me he was here and had no reason to deny him coming in here. Oh well._ After contemplating this in her head she said out loud, "Thank you for your services Lisa. You are excused for the night and I will see you in the morning." Lisa looked like she was about to protest or apologize, neither of which Serenity wanted to here so she added, "Good Night Lisa." And with that she quietly left the room leaving Serenity with Prince Darien.

She turned to face him and blinked in surprise as she found him standing up in front of his chair, she had been so determined to not make eye contact with him that she hadn't seen him move. She silently reprimanded herself for not using her lessons that mina had taught her. He didn't appear to notice and bowed to her before saying, "I apologize for my unexpected visit and I hope that you can forgive me for the intrusion of your personal time."

Serenity nodded her head in acceptance at this and motioned for him to sit back down and took a seat herself. Not sure what to say at this point she looked down at her skirts and played with a little bow that decorated her robe. Finally tired of the silence, she looked up to see Darien staring at his hands and felt bad for making this uncomfortable for him as well. So gathering up her courage she asked, "Is there something I can do for you Prince Darien, or are you here to have a friendly conversation?"

He didn't immediately reply and when he did he was still staring at his hands, "I saw you practicing with weapons today and sparing with Princess Mina." _Well this was not what I had been expecting him to say, it's not bad, but I'm not sure where he's going with this, _she thought, then said to him, "Please call her Mina, she would be terribly irritated with you for calling her a Princess. As to the sparing I hope we didn't distress you in any way. It's customary for a Princess of the Moon to learn how to defend oneself; there have been attempts to… dispatch us over the years we have reigned."

Darien seemed surprised at this answer and hurriedly replied, "No there is nothing that distressed me. The reason I came here tonight is to ask you if you would give me the honor of sparing with me on the morrow that is, if your mother approves of it." _He wants to what?!_ She thought while just barely managing to keep a hold of her facial expression neutral. When the first initial wave of astonishment passed she said, "I don't need my Mother's approval and I will gladly accept your invitation to spar. The morning time is when my lessons for weapons are held, so if you are ok with that would you care to meet me at the court yard in the morning right after the first breakfast bell?" He stood up and wore a huge grin on his face and gladly agreed; then he departed for the night and promised to see her in the morning and flashed that boyish smile of his.

She had stood up while he left but as the closed behind him she collapsed on to the arm chair behind her and tried not to think. She succeeded for all of two seconds before she really realized what she had just agreed to do; she just said yes to spar with the man who had called her 'buns'! Serenity suddenly felt very tired and decided that it would be for the best if she got a good night of sleep before she dealt with him.

She took off her robe and climbed into her fluffy bed where her last thoughts before she fell asleep where wondering about if he thought she was pretty or not.

The morning rays brought Serenity out of her sleep and a chirping bird sat outside on her balcony heralding the new day and what was to come. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see that Lisa wasn't here yet, then getting out of bed she went out onto her balcony and took in the fresh morning air. The sun hadn't technically risen yet and that was why Lisa wasn't here, and she wouldn't be here for another hour or so if Serenity guessed correctly.

She debated on whether or not to wear a gown for breakfast and decided against it; instead she donned her soft brown breeches and a periwinkle silk blouse and finished by putting her hair up into one long pony tail. When this was finished she went down to the kitchens and brought her breakfast up to her room while she asked for a message to be delivered to Mina.

DARIEN'S POV

Sitting straight up in bed Darien gasped for air and whipped the cold sweat from his face; _OH! It had only been a dream, a very wrong, very inappropriate dream._ With this realization he lay back down and his breathing calmed down and the memory of what it included came back to him….

_With a flash and a clang Darien and Serenity's swords collided and then broke apart. Serenity was panting heavily and her shirt was clinging to her and Darien was starting to loose his concentration as his eyes wanted to look else where besides her face. At one point his eyes betrayed him and when they looked down and over her glorious hot and sweaty form that was when she struck. She tackled him heavily to the ground and landed on top him with her hips straddling his; this position became even more uncomfortable when she leaned forward enough that it caused her to move over him and cause friction. She whispered in his ear, "I believe I win, now, what do I get?" His eyes focused on to her lips that where two inches from his and he serious began thinking that this could be bad when she sat up and caused more friction over his crotch. He didn't know whether to be happy or sad when she didn't get up off of him but bounced a little as she crossed her arms over her chest and began to pout. All her movements were creating a problem that she would have to deal with in a few moments if she didn't get up real soon... She looked like she was getting angry at this point when…_

And that's the point at which Darien woke up; he was very thankful for this and all the problems that this dream would have caused, it would have been hard enough sparing her today with images of yesterday in his head. An image of Serenity in her tight soft breeches and clinging silk shirt flashed across his mind, but even that was over powered by the image of her in her wet short bathrobe. Darien was surprised that this dream didn't involve that, and then he reprimanded himself for being ok with having these dreams in the first place. At this time he decided that it was time to get out of bed, even if the sun wasn't up yet. He got out of bed and got dressed in the clothes he would where when sparring and was about to walk out his door when he heard Serenity open her doors. He waited till she had left before going down to the kitchens where he almost ran into her again; Darien knew he was not prepared to face her and as she left the kitchens he caught a peek of the outfit she was wearing and knew that if he talked to her it would have some serious side effects on his body and that, he really didn't feel like explaining. He just took his food back up to his room and thought about everything he could that didn't involve Princess Serenity in any way.

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**So I had to change my rating to M because things might be getting a little more heated.. those stinking smuttbunnies tickled me till I almost wet myself… they didn't stop till I promised to pick it up a little.. still I don't like rushing into things.. so.. **

**Please read and Review! Any little comment would be nice! It only takes a few second to say good or bad!**

**W/Love, Hime-chan**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok so I had a lot to think about before writing chapter; I wasn't real sure if or how I was going to do this sparring and I hope it came out ok… I'm really happy with how this is going so far and on Friday and Saturday I'm really going to able to get a lot done. Now enjoy the "sparring"**

**Warning: Nothing really major happens in this chapter, just a few little "problems", but things will be picking up soon.**

**P.s. still need beat reader…**

**Thanx to (special music plays) :**

**MoonPrincessMagic – Thank you for keeping with the story!**

**bunnykim89 – I'm happy you liked it!**

**Sailormoonloverlol – Here it is!**

**Shadow's Moon Hime – isn't he just amazing?! swoon … lol and don't worry, I do relax… writing has been keeping me sane ******

**Disclaimer: I Do Not own Sailor Moon. I just own any characters I've made up and my plot.**

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Chapter 9 of TsukiHime, 

_**The Match**_

Serenity's POV

Serenity sat in the arm chair she had sat in the night before and quietly ate her breakfast. She was thinking about her trip to the kitchen and the feeling she couldn't shake that she had been watched when her maid, Lisa, came into her sitting room. Serenity dropped her fork and jumped a little but recovered quickly; she smiled at Lisa who looked very surprised to see her up and dressed. To recover from her shock she curtsied and said, "You Highness I truly did not expect you to be up this early much less dressed and eating breakfast. I think that you mother will be pleased to learn that you have followed her orders beyond her expectations."

Serenity almost sighed in exasperation at the thought of having to get up at this time every morning; this might have just been a fluke but it was most likely caused by nerves for today. Lisa started to fidget with the hem of her skirt so Serenity said, "I need you to go down to Mina's room and tell her I need to talk to her before lessons this morning." She nodded at this and left Serenity to finish the rest of her breakfast; it wasn't long before they both returned and she dismissed Lisa till later in the evening.

Mina looked over Serenity with a raised eye brow and asked her why she was actually on time and ready for once. Serenity slightly cringed at this before telling her about the agreement that Darien and her had made; and didn't know what to make it Mina's reaction as she busted up in hail of laughter. "I don't think that this is a very funny situation Mina; this is a serious match and I really want to do my best to beat him." Serenity said angrily. After Mina caught her breath and stood up from where she had collapsed on the carpet she replied, "No, I'm not laughing because I think you are out matched, "I'm laughing because… well actually I'll let you figure it out."

Mina not finishing her reason really irked Serenity and she was about to demand why when mina cut her off saying, "Well it would be a good idea to go down to the courtyard and warm up before the match." Serenity knew she was right and decided to drop the subject and just ask her about it later and left with Mina. Serenity knew that she had a little bit of time before the first bell rang, which was the appointed time for Darien to meet her here. As she thought about this she felt a little flutter of nervousness go through her and tried to distract herself by doing the stretches that Mina and Lita had taught her.

DARIEN'S POV

Darien ate his breakfast at an excruciatingly slow pace and tried to kill time till the appointed meeting time. He didn't want to be late but he didn't want to be found in the courtyard appearing to be overly eager so he would go as soon as the bell rang. When it finally could be heard ringing through the Palace he felt a flash of apprehension; dismissing this he left his room and walked down to the courtyard. He walked around the corner and immediately averted his eyes as he saw that Serenity was bending over and touching her forehead to her shins. _Oh this is promising that she won't be tempting the whole time I'm here…Not! I'm not sure if I can deal with this and her, she's just so gorgeous and sexy. No, No! I can and must control myself!_

Serenity had seen him by this time and stood up; she had a wooden sword in her hand and if he wasn't mistaken she was blushing as well. She looked so adorable standing there in her sparring outfit and blushing, but he knew that she would not be any easy opponent. Mina walked over to him and handed him a wooden practice sword that was similar to Serenity's.

He bowed to her and then took the fighting stance that his father had taught him; Serenity took a stance that was close to his but seemed modified for her small size. Mina stated the rules and guidelines and the sparring began.

Serenity made the first move which Darien parried with ease, but this didn't deter her and she came at him again; she was strong for a girl, but know where near the strength as his father. He thought he had Serenity figured out since she had heavily concentrated on his right side when she suddenly switched her attacks to his left side and increased her strength. He stumbled and almost fell over before he could adjust; she noticed this and pressed him even harder. Darien began to tire out and broke out in a heavy sweat; he wasn't alone in this and noticed that Serenity's shirt clung to her. Then she suddenly jumped away and stopped attacking, immediately flashes of his dream came to plague him.

He shook his head and resisted the urge to follow what had happened in his dream, but his will was weak when he was near her and he looked over her tiny waist and breasts that were outlined. And then just like his dream, she did the unthinkable; she literally pounced on him and knocked him heavily to the ground.

At this just the memory of what had happened in his dream was enough to arouse him more than he was comfortable with. Reality slowed at this point as she leaned forward and wiggled and rubbed in the process, yet he couldn't seem to push her off of him and stop. But this time as she whispered, "I believe I win, now, what do I get." he closed his eyes and tried to prevent from getting a hard on. He knew that if he opened his eyes and saw her beautiful face that it would be the last straw.

He almost didn't believe his ears when he heard a female voice say, "Serenity! That is enough! Get up off Prince Darien, that it not proper behavior! And when you do I want to see you in my rooms at once young lady." He kept his eyes closed till she was completely off, and even after she was off and he had opened his eyes he still made no effort to get up. Suddenly a shadow fell over him and found a tall young woman with red, brunette wavy hair and stunning green eyes;_ she matches the description the Serenity gave me for Lita._

She bent down and lent him her hand while asking, "You ok there Pretty Boy? My little Princess didn't beat you up too bad did she? She's a tough cookie and is full of surprises." He stood up and dusted himself off as best as he could before replying, "My thanks for you help. You are one of Princess Serenity's Guardians correct? Lita right?" She looked surprised at this before nodding her head and chuckling, "You sure know your stuff Pretty Boy. Did you study our names and faces or something?"

It was Darien's turn to laugh at this and replied, "No, no, I'm not that motivated, no offence. I was actually informed by the Princess herself; she told me a little bit about each of you and your names." He began to feel dirty and nasty, among other things and had to excuse himself to go get cleaned up and changed.

Along the way he thanked god that Queen Serelaina showed up when she did and prevented all the problems that would have happened. He found it hard to deal with the fact that he had dreamed about her and then had it happen. This was his second day of rest and he decided that he was going to stay in bed pretty much all day. But as he entered his room a thought struck him and knew that he would have one more errand to run for today before going to sleep.

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**So I hope you liked it… I tried really hard but I'm totally open to criticism. So I just love it when a girl is spontaneous and random… I just couldn't help it to not tease Darien either… lol sorry... well see you next chapter!**

**_Please Read and Review!_**

**W/ Love, Hime-chan **


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm sorry that my last chapter was so short, it just seemed like a good place to stop before I finished the rest of the day (the second day of rest.) So today is Friday and I'm really going to be able to get a lot done so hopefully this will be one of two chapters that are posted tonight… but please don't kill me if not!...well I'm in need of a pep talk so here it is… YAY ME! ... Wow... any ways... here you go!**

**P.S. Beta reader still needed!**

**My Thanx to:**

**MoonPrincessMagic – Thank you for every thing! (I could resist teasing him and making life a little hard for him)**

**Shadow's Moon Hime – Lol isn't teasing so much fun?**

**RoyalLovers1418 – Thank you for reading!**

**bunnykim89 – I'm happy you liked it!**

**Disclaimer: … Do I even need to have one? This is the 10th chapter people…**

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_**Chapter 10 of TsukiHime,**_

_**The Lessons**_

As Serenity walked up to her mother's room she could not possibly imagine why Serelaina was mad at her; she wasn't a little girl any more so her mother shouldn't be mad at her for sparring, could she?

She arrived quickly to her mother's rooms up in the east hall way, but stopped outside the door to gather her thoughts and take a deep breath before knocking. She raised her hand to knock when the door opened and Luna came out; Serenity didn't know what to think when she just shook her head and continued on with out a word. Watching Luna walk away for a moment she then went into face her mother; Queen Serelaina sat in a large, plush arm chair and watched her daughter come in with a grave expression on her face. Serenity curtsied and murmured a quite greeting and stood before her while starring down at the floor; when her mother didn't speak she began to wonder and get a little irritated, so when she stole a quick glance at her mother's face and saw open amusement her temper was greatly aggravated.

Not understanding what was going on and wanting to know why she was found to be so amusing she asked, "Do you find me amusing? Or perhaps it is my situation that you find funny? I believe I have the right to know why I am called here under the pretense that I've done something wrong and am to be punished." The punishment part was really true, yet, but she knew that when Luna was involved and her mother gave her that look, a punishment usually followed.

Yet again Serenity became irritated when instead of answering her mother laughed, but when Serelaina finally stopped and caught her breath she said, "My dear, I am only a little frustrated with you and more than a little embarrassed at that last little "attack" you pulled on Prince Darien. The reason I'm frustrated with you is that I wish you had told me about your sparring match with him. I wouldn't have told you no, you are an adult now, but that does not change the fact that I am your mother and would like to know these kinds of things. And as to you tackling and straddling the Prince of Earth, I really don't know what to say to that other than, What Were You Thinking!?"

Serenity cringed at this and knew her mother was right but yet she still didn't think she had been wrong, at the end of the sparring match she did what she thought was best and it had won her the match. She shouldn't be in trouble just because she pounced on, …err, tackled him when he was distracted from checking her out; and yes she had, maybe just a little, enjoyed him all hot and sweaty under her, and yes, maybe she did mean more by the question she asked then she let on, but she was not about to tell her mother any of this.

Her mother saw her cringe and was silent for a moment before she said, "I believe you were pushing your personal boundaries a bit considering you've only known him for a couple days my dear. Although I hear that he finds your company quite enjoyable, and no wonder he would if you act like that around him." At hearing this Serenity gasped and felt rather angry and embarrassed by what her mother was insinuating, and at the little bit of truth behind it. Her mother laughed at this and didn't say any thing more but instead, informed her that her lessons for tomorrow would be cut short and when Serenity asked why, she was appalled by the answer and beggared her to reconsider.

"No Young Lady! This is final; I am going to have you ask him to go riding with you and show him the town as a way of apologizing for your improper behavior. And now, if I hear one more word out of your mouth complaining about it, I'll cancel all your lessons and make you stay with him the whole day!" her mother said sternly, but Serenity had one more argument to try her mothers patience by saying, "This is a punishment to him! I don't think that he wants to spend a whole day with the girl who just won a sparring match against him, and is going to be known around the Palace as the guy who got beat up by a Princess."

From the look on her mother's face she knew that she was skeptical about this and more than a little peeved for her even attempting to use this as an argument. The afternoon chimes could be ringing through the Palace at this time and Serenity knew that she was supposed to meet Amy for her History lesson in about ten minutes and she was still dressed in her fighting attire and needed to change.

She quickly excused herself from her mother's room with a promise that she would ask Darien some time today or tonight, and that she would pay attention at the rest of her lessons. She almost ran to her rooms where quickly changed into a gown, let down her hair and sprayed some of the perfume that Rei had given her before going down to the Library for her lesson.

She went down stairs to the Palace Library and quietly went inside and took a seat at the usual table; she had just arranged her skirts and gotten settled in, her Guardian Amy walked in carrying a huge stack of books. Serenity flinched at the amount of books that fell on to the table and even more so as she read some of the titles; her history lessons had just reached a new era of the past and this one seemed promising that it would be as dull as the last one. Thinking about this she almost sighed but managed to catch herself before it could escape and Amy here it; Amy was pretty strict about her behavior and was always getting on her case about how she really lacked a work ethic. Amy always brought up the point that if she couldn't do her work then how was she supposed to run a whole planet.

When Amy was finished settling in and straightening out her lesson plans for the day they began; all the lessons followed a general guideline, so even when the material changed they would still cover it in the same manner. First was always a swift review of what they covered last time, then Amy stated the key points they would talk about that day and then went into detail, and finally they finished up with Amy asking her some philosophical questions for her to think about so or so she said, but Serenity knew that Amy asked these to see if she had understood and paid attention during the lesson.

Today's lesson was the most lackluster and uninteresting one yet, and the rest of this era was most likely going to be even worse. Serenity's thought and attention eventually drifted to this morning, Darien and what had happened between them; the fight had been a good one and she knew that she had tricked him by not using all her strength and by becoming predictable, then suddenly switching her attack power and how she came at him. Yet she had been getting really hot, sweaty, and tired and had to jump away to reassess her plan when he became distracted by her body; her shirt had stuck itself to her like it was part of her and she guessed it was more than a distraction for the guy she was fighting. When she saw his eyes wander down from her face to her waist and breasts, she felt a little sense of pride blossom at being looked at and being seen as an attractive woman instead of an untouchable, forbidden Princess.

She wasn't ignorant of the way her body looked or the quick appraising glances she got but no one had ever been so open about ogling her before, and some how that they were from a Prince made her feel them more. Normally she would have thought that he was just another arrogant prick that was used to getting his way with women, or he saw her as a pretty prize that came with power but Darien, when Darien looked at her it was candid and like he saw past the titles and to the young woman beneath it

In some ways this scared her but it also made her feel wanted, and when she docked him down to the ground and straddled him, she had quite enjoyed it and now that she thought about it, she had known deep down the effect this would have on him.

"Are you listening to me?!" Amy asked sounding a little aggravated, Serenity jumped and came out of her little thought bubble, and nodded her head yes that she had been paying attention. She knew what came next; Amy would ask her a couple questions about what she was supposed to be listening to. She knew this was next because she almost always spaced out at every lesson, but by now she had managed to learn to listen subconsciously so she could answer what ever Amy asked of her.

As she had predicted Amy asked her four questions about the first queen who had borne no girl child before she died and had no siblings to pass the throne to. Serenity got three out of four right and she suspected that the last one asked was about some thing Amy hadn't said yet, but she knew better than to argue. After these questions Amy decided to finish the lesson and let her go a little early to lunch and gave her no homework; for this Serenity hugged and thanked her before she set off to the Dining Hall.

Lunch and the rest of her Lessons were fairly uneventful; the only thing worth noting was that she caught a glimpse of Darien leaving the Palace. She wondered if she should go after him and talk to him, but she remembered that she was in a gown and knew she would have a chance later this evening. The final deciding factor was the mid-afternoon bell ringing and telling her it was time for her to go to her next Lesson.

She was done for the day and on her way back to the Dining Hall for supper, when a loud, bossy, voice called to her, telling her to hold up. Serenity turned to face a fiery looking Rei, who was a little out of breath; knowing her she had probably seen Serenity from the second story and chased after her. Serenity and Rei argued and fought a lot, and disagreed on a lot of topics, but other than that they got along ok. Serenity thought that she was really bossy and always assumed the Serenity was being ditsy when she had an idea that was different then normal. Serenity could have said that she had a right to say and think that when she was a lot younger but now she had grown up and matured over the years.

They walked side by side for a moment while she got her breath back and then she said, "The girls are going to eat dinner together tonight in the Parlor and I didn't think that you had had any time to go back to your rooms, which is where we had left your message, so I came to get you." And with that they turned around and headed to the Parlor where a special little feast had been brought in and set up specially for the girls. All the Guardians except for Rei, who had come to get her, where there and waiting for them; when they walked in the room, that completed this attendance and the feasting and girl talk began.

This was a rare gathering and something that they almost never got to do, so they had to make up for lost time and the only thing was exciting and worth talking about was Serenity's sparring match with Darien this morning, and when Mina brought it up and recounted the whole thing in detail, all heck broke loose.

Lita was really proud of her and had been bragging about it all day, and Serenity was mortified to find out what she had said to Darien when she helped him up after the fight. She now knew that talking to him tonight was completely out of the question and that she would have to do it in the morning when the memory of his hot body pinned underneath hers was not fresh in her mind and the memory of being told it was ok to get your butt whooped by a girl was fresh in his.

Rei's reaction was fairly easy to predict; all the girls knew that she didn't not like guys that where typically like Prince Darien and she thought that he deserved to get tackled for ogling her in a fight. She sounded her opinion that she thought he deserved a lot more than that for ogling the Princess of the Moon at all. Serenity knew that this was more for the pride of the Moon Kingdom than more for Serenity's virtue; she also knew the reason why. Rei had courted a guy that looked and acted very similar to Darien about a year ago, if she remembered correctly, and when they had been talking and he told her some of the things he thought about the Moon Kingdom and it's women, she had dumped him and from then on become very prickly with men.

Amy laughed shyly at hearing about and said that now she understood why Serenity had been spacing out during the History Lesson. Amy was a pretty shy individual and became even more shy around guys, but this almost always worked to her advantage and drew then to her like flies to honey. A couple years ago it would have been funny to see how shy she was, but Serenity began to suspect that part of it was an act now and a very successful one at that. She didn't really have much of any thing else to say after that and just sat and listened to Mina tease their Princess.

"So girls what do you think, she says she doesn't like him, even with all the time they spent together the first night he got, the walk they had out in the Gardens, and the Sparring. But we can't have him even if she says she doesn't want him because she's afraid we'll leave her for him. Sounds like somebody is jealous and smitten to me, especially after you purposefully straddled him this morning." Serenity's face she beat red by this point and the rest of the girls were snickering and giggling hysterically. With all the teasing she was getting from the girls she knew it would even worse if they found out about tomorrow's plans.

The bantering and teasing continued on after this, and by the time they were all giggled and gossiped out it was very late; the girls parted ways and all went up to their room for the night. When Serenity reached the doors to her rooms, she was almost falling asleep where she stood but she suddenly felt a little more wide awake and wondered if Darien was still up and as she approached the carved diplomat's doors a loud choking snore could be heard from behind them. She took this as her queue that he was in fact not still awake and went into her own rooms.

Lisa wasn't there when she walked in and knew that someone must have told her that she wouldn't be needed for the night, nevertheless her sparring attire was picked up and gone and a fresh night gown was folded on top of her vanity; there was also a note stuck to the mirror left by Lisa. It read:

_Dear Princess,_

_I returned to your rooms for the evening when I saw that the doors to your room were slightly ajar, seeing this I hastened to go inside and see if you were missing any thing. Every thing was in perfect order (you may even check for your self) and when I was done, I found something for you in your sitting room, it had a note attached. I put it on your pillow for you to find and left for the night when I was informed of your plans. I will see you tomorrow morning._

_Your Loyal Servant – Lisa _

After reading this, she set the note down, then dressed quickly and didn't even bother to pick up her gown from where it fell and went to crawl on to her canopy bed to see what it is. Lying on her pillow was the most beautiful and perfect red rose she had ever seen; the note next to it was very simple and sweet and read:

_Here is a Rose for the Rose of the Garden_

It was unsigned and in an elegant scroll; Serenity's first thought was that it was from Mr. Thompson, but he would have no reason to do such a thing, and so she decided that she would find out in the morning and now it was time for her to sleep. She took the rose and smiled when she noticed another little thing from Lisa; it was a simple little vase sitting on her night-stand, just perfect for a single rose. Serenity quickly filled it with water and put the gorgeous flower into it and then crawled into bed where she was asleep before her head hit the pillows, a contented smile on her face.

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**So a little mystery is going on... ok... or not so much... but hey... I like a little mystery and romance...oh yeah! Ok, So by having Serenity invite Darien to go riding, I actually mean they will go on horse back... sorry but no other kind of riding will occur in the next chapter... but I guess you can still fantasize… and I have nothing against Rei, I like her, I just don't think that they get along very well.. Well hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Please read and Review! **

**W/ Love, Hime-chan xoxo**


	11. Chapter 11

**So hello every one!!! Wow my last chapter was my longest so I'm pretty sure I did good... this one is going to be a long one too...Well I'm starting to run out of things to say… Therefore, on with the story!**

**p.s…. looking for editor**

**Special thanx to the following, THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS REVIEWING! It really means a lot to me!**

**MoonPrincessMagic**

**Shadow's Moon Hime**

**RoyalLovers1418**

**Bunnykim89**

**Sailormoonloverlol**

**Disclaimer: so what would happen if I claimed I own Darien… lol I know I don't… but I wish I did…he he he**

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Chapter 11 of TsukiHime,**_

_**The Ride**_

Darien groggily opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep from them; last night had been full of tormenting images and remembered touches that made him afraid to closes his eyes lest his dreams took them further. When he finally fell asleep late into the night, it was a deep, exhausted one that mercifully held no dreams. Seeing that it was late in the morning, Darien knew that he should get up and get cleaned for the day; when he had come back up to his rooms yesterday he found that he had only the willpower and strength needed to strip down into his underwear and crawl into bed. He stayed there for the rest of the day and tried to recuperate; the knowledge that he had been beaten by a girl was the first thing to plague him but it was quickly out shadowed by the remembrance of how he had lost and why.

Getting out of bed and shaking away the same thoughts from yesterday, he decided that he needed some fresh air before he got cleaned up and walked out on to his balcony and into the morning sunshine. The view was just as beautiful in the day as it was at night and he felt a calm come over him and his persistent thoughts wash away, that is until he laid his eyes on her, Princess Serenity. She was coming from the Gardens and wore a puzzled look; the calm feeling was suddenly gone and all the persistent thoughts came back to him.

When he could no longer see her he decided to go back inside and went in to his bathroom where he stripped down out of his underwear to take a quick bath where he scrubbed away all of yesterday's sweat and grim earned during the sparring match. Finishing this quickly he toweled off and donned a clean pair of breeches; he also contemplated putting on the colon that Serenity had complemented him on, then feeling that he should he added just enough as to not to over do it. Walking out of his bathroom and over to his dresser he chose the rest of his clothing and tossed it on to his bed. Darien didn't feel like putting clothing on over his still damp body so for breakfast he decided to ring down to the kitchens and have it delivered.

Then having nothing to do but wait, he decided to plan out the rest of his week and write down some of the diplomatic points he would discuss tomorrow at the meetings. He was almost finished when a knock was heard at his door; assuming it was a servant to deliver him his breakfast, he got up and answered it. Yet the person who greeted him was hardly a servant, it was the Moon Princess herself and she was carrying a huge tray covered in a cloth.

He just stared and didn't say anything until she asked if she could come in, Darien stuttered a yes and quick apology and moved aside to let her in. She set the food down on his writing desk and took a seat in the previously occupied chair. Suddenly his brain broke out in frantic thoughts and reprimands, half the little voices were yelling at him for letting Her in and the other half for just standing there like a big idiot. Shaking his head clear of these thoughts he took the other seat across from her and looked up at her; her eyes were bright and clear, yet something was lurking behind them, something he thought that might get him in trouble. He couldn't describe the look but it almost looked as if she was appraising him; not being able to withstand her gaze he looked over the rest of her features, such as her golden blonde hair the fell across her face in the form on bangs, her two buns, and her pretty, pouty, petal soft looking lips.

They didn't say anything for a while but just sat and looked at each other; Serenity was the first to look away with a little blush across her cheeks and broke the silence by asking, "After all the trouble I went through to bring you a hot breakfast and now you are just going to sit there and let it get cold?" From her tone Darien could detect no malice but surprised him by sounding amused. He flashed a quick grin and said, "Why of course Princess, I wouldn't want to infringe upon your kindness, yet I can't help but feel that this wonderfully unexpected visit is with out due case. Am I mistaken?"

Serenity laughed gaily at this before replying, "Why it looks like you're on to me Darien. I came here to ask you to join me after the afternoon bell for a ride and perhaps to let me show you around my Kingdom. I fear that my behavior during our spar yesterday was out of line and my mother would like me to do this by way of apology. So will you join me?" Darien was surprised by her tone and the proposition; the last time she had been forced into his company she was defiant and haughty, yet now she seemed willing and good natured about it. This led him to wonder what has caused such a turn about, but he wasn't about to waste it so he said, "I would be honored Buns."

Once again that nickname just seemed to slip out, so to avoid her anger he took off the cover from his food and began to eat. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could feel her angry glare and hear her huff in exasperation; she stood up at this point and excused herself pleading that she had lessons to go to and she hoped he enjoyed his breakfast. But as she was leaving Darien was almost certain that she whispered "or choke on it and save me from today" under her breath.

If he knew that he wasn't the one who was supposed to choke he would have found it quite funny. After she left, everything was quite again and he enjoyed his breakfast in quiet; the quiet presented a perfect opportunity for him to think over the change in her personality and why had he called her that nickname again. When he ate all of his breakfast he finished getting dressed and left his room; thinking to himself that either Serenity hadn't gotten the rose or she hadn't thought it was him, he decided to get another and put it in her rooms while she was at lessons.

He made his way down to the Gardens and made sure not to run into any of the Guardians or Serenity; it would be an awkward situation explaining what he was doing in the Gardens with a rose in his hands. Making it to the center fountain he spotted Mr. Thompson pruning a little bush, and not wanting to startle him too badly, he called out to him while he approached him. Mr. Thompson stood up and looked around and chuckled when he saw it was Darien; confused by this Darien asked, "Is something wrong?" and raised a hand to his face to feel if there was any thing there. Shaking his head no he said, "No, I find it amusing that you asked me for a perfect rose yesterday and this morning I find a confused, delighted, but confused Princess asking me if I had anything to do with it. It's quite the coincident don't you think?" Mr. Thompson must have seen the alarmed look on his face for he added, "There is no need to worry, I didn't tell her where it came from. Now what can I help you with Prince Darien?"

He suddenly felt relief and embarrassment wash over him and asked what Serenity's favorite flower was. Mr. Thompson went over to a small bush located near the large fountain and bent down to pick something and when he showed it to Darien, he could immediately see why it was her favorite. Taking the flower in his hands he thanked the old florist and began to walk away when Mr. Thompson called to him asking, "If I may Prince Darien, what did you say you wanted these for? I can't remember." Stopping he yelled over his shoulder, "I didn't."

Leaving behind a chuckling old man he walked back into the Palace alert and watchful. He was relieved that his trip to the west wing was uneventful and quick; Darien went into his room and sat down at his writing desk and got out a piece of paper. He sat here for some time, just staring and the Midnight Lily that the gardener had given him; no words came to him until he finally wrote down,

_May the Beauty of your Bloom always match that of this Lily_

Darien knew that he was no romantic by any means and found himself asking, _why was he doing this?_ Yet deep down in his heart he knew that giving her this flower was a purely simple, but selfish reason; he wanted her to like him, and he wanted to see her smile. He was being foolish and he knew it, he also knew that nothing was ever going to happen between them and that her liking him was a long shot, and he wasn't even sure as to what he was feeling for her.

They had known each other for barely three days, yet he felt that he had known her for a life time with every thing that had happened. Grabbing the note and picking up the lily he peeked out his door to make sure there were no maids and seeing none he walked over to Serenity's doors and knocked loudly hoping that Serenity or her maid weren't there. Hearing no reply or having no one open the door, he let himself in and quickly placed the note and Midnight Lily on a table where it would be seen and left.

Once back out into the hallway he now realized that the still had some time to kill before the Afternoon bell. He thought about what he could do to get ready for the ride and decided to see if the kitchens would pack him a lunch for him and Serenity while they were gone.

The kitchens were a frenzied chaos of chefs, helpers, and maids trying to get lunch ready; Darien started to feel bad for asking for them to make a special lunch when the Head Chef stopped in front of him. She asked, "Yes, Is there something I can do for you Your Highness? I'm really very busy right now, but I can spare a few minutes if you need of something." Darien felt put on the spot and decided to go ahead and ask her anyways since he was already down here, "Myself and the Princess will be going for a ride and I was wondering if it could be arranged for us to take a lunch with us."

She nodded her head curtly and barked some orders and was about to leave when he asked, "Can you have it delivered to me at the stables? It would be very much appreciated." The chef nodded again and with that Darien left the bustling room and out side to the court yard where he realized that he had no idea as to where the stable actually were. A passing servant came scurrying past him carrying a huge load of books and almost dropped the whole stack when Darien called out to him; he asked quickly, "Which way to the stables my good man, I'm afraid I haven't the slightest clue." The reply and direction where short and simple and as Darien followed them, a large barn and stable quickly came into view.

Walking up to the stable a tall lanky man came out and cried "Greetings Prince Darien! My name is Andrew and I assume you are here to see me about a horse for you afternoon ride with the Princess? Ah! Don't look so surprised You Highness! The good Queen Serelaina informed me that you would be here some time this morning. I have just the perfect horse for you, a stallion mind you, but you seem like a strong, sturdy young man, and I'm sure you'll have no trouble with him at all." Darien just nodded and followed a long when he turned around and walked into the stables; they came upon a tall, all black magnificent stallion that stood sleeping near the gate.

The stable manager clucked his tongue a couple times and the stallion woke up and snorted; Andrew leaned on the fence and the majestic horse shook out his mane and came to nuzzle his hand, no doubt in hope for a treat. Andrew laughed at this and turned to Darien and said, "This is the horse you'll be riding, a beauty isn't he? His name is Yonaka, an Earth word meaning, "Midnight" if I'm not mistaken. The Princess named him herself the day he was born."

After this Andrew grabbed a saddle and was about to let Yonaka out when a stable boy ran up and told him that one of the cows were in labor and he was needed. Hearing this Darien said, "Don't worry Andrew, I love horses and know how to saddle up a horse. I'll take care of Yonaka and the Princess' horse; could you have one of the stable hands show me where the stall is?" He looked really thankful for this and called for a stable hand named Erin, and then was off to the cow leaving Erin with strict orders to behave and show Prince Darien the Princess' mare's stall.

The young boy waited patiently while Darien took Yonaka out of his stall and put on his bit, attached his reins, and put on his saddle. He swung up into the saddle with expertise grace and adjusted the straps and buckles that were needed. When he was done, he got down and gestured for Erin to lead the way; the boy bound to attention and skipped a couple steps ahead while Darien walked and led Yonaka by his reigns.

The stall was near the end of the stable and was a little bigger than Yonaka's; inside was a slim, pretty, all white mare with an arched neck and delicate features. At the site of the mare and her stall, Yonaka urged forward, pulling the reigns from Darien's hands and trotted to the gate. Erin laughed at Darien's surprised expression and Yonaka's and said, "Yuri, that's the mare's name, and Yonaka really like each other; whenever they are in each other's company they are almost inseparable."

Upon hearing this name a realization hit him and it made sense why they were friends. Both of their names together made "Midnight Lily" which was Serenity's favorite flower. Darien then asked, "Do you know what Yuri means Erin? No? It's an Earth word meaning "Lily"." Wide eyed Erin nodded and then asked if there was any thing else he could do to help; thinking about it Darien asked him if he knew which saddle the Princess used and he was off like a shot.

He came back with a small delicate saddle and stood quietly while Darien tied Yonaka's reigns to a near by pole and let Yuri out. At this time a maid walked into the stables and came to him and delivered a medium sized pack that contained the lunch he had asked for. After she left Darien had to ask Erin to give him the saddle and go fetch some saddle bags for Yonaka's saddle; while he was gone he finished saddling up Yuri and got her brushed down.

Erin returned and Darien released him, and as the boy skipped away and he finished fitting the saddle bags on, he heard a loud female voice ask, "What are you doing?" Turning around he saw Serenity standing there and bowed to her and said, "Both of the horses are ready and I took the initiative to have a lunch packed for us." He looked over her appearance and noted that she was still wearing a gown made for riding and not breeches like some of them woman on his planet did, he also noted that she wore the Midnight Lily in her hair right behind her ear.

As she came closer to her mare, Yuri whinnied and trotted over to nuzzle her; Darien could see the mutual affection between rider and horse and it made him smile. He then realized that he should help her into her saddle, so he walked over next to Yuri and got down on one knee while interlocking his fingers and making a step for her foot. She looked down at him for a moment as if to contemplate whether or not she was going to except his then gingerly put her booted foot onto his makeshift step and he boosted her up into her saddle.

After doing this he swung up into his own saddle and was about to move Yonaka into a walk when he caught a quizzical glance from Serenity atop of Yuri. Knowing he really shouldn't ask but not being able to help himself he asked cautiously, "Is something the matter?" She just shook her head and replied, "No, nothing is wrong, it's just that this is the first time any one besides Andrew has ridden Yonaka before." And with this she suddenly laughed and kicked Yuri into a fierce gallop and took off towards the Palace Gates leave Darien in the dust.

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Ok so this was a long chapter... and I'm sorry if not a lot happened... I had originally planned for a lot more... and it's still going to happen it's just that the filler stuff for my mental check points took up a lot of room… if that makes any sense... well sorry this took so long to get up... I've been a busy, busy, girl so... well hope you keep reading! **

**Yonaka Japanese word for "Midnight"**

**Yuri Japanese word for "Lily"**

**The midnight lily is a flower i made up by the way **

**Please Read and Review!**

**W/Love, Hime-chan **


	12. Chapter 12

**Yay for number twelve! Never really thought I'd get this far... and yet I'm already looking forward to the end... This chapter will have action and drama and Sailor Moonness (yes I just maid that up... but it fits) so nothing much to say... I'm kinda gloomy write now... lol boy trouble and college…**

**Over Five Thousand Hits! Thank you so much every one! It means a lot to me!**

**Thanx to –**

**MoonPrincessMagic: thank you for keeping me going!**

**RoyalLovers1418: LOL THANK YOU! (lol I think all my messages to you will be all caps from now on :p)**

**Ashley: Thank you for the comment, but as a teenager this is kinda what it's like... ahem... not that I'm speaking from experience or any thing…**

**Shadow's Moon Hime: I totally agree with you! Lol and was the last part of you review a hint perhaps? **

**Disclaimer: I no own SM. I own plot. Hoo ha ha… **

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Chapter 12 of TsukiHime,**_

_**The Pony**_

Darien coughed at the dust kicked up for Yuri's heels and then a little belatedly kicked at Yonaka's flanks and took off. The stallion was fast and eager to ketch his friend, and Darien who was just along for the ride at this point, frantically pulled at the reigns in an attempt to slow his down since Darien had no idea where the Palace Gates were. Seeing that this was useless he gave the horse his head and Yonaka sped up even more; Darien was an expert horse rider so staying on was not an issue and the horse seemed to know exactly where he was going so just hung on to the reigns and watched to make sure no one accidentally got trampled.

They quickly caught the mare and her rider and at the site of them Yonaka whined and picked up even more speed; Darien hadn't thought it possible and began to wonder why he knew of no such horse on Earth and what he could do to get bloodlines like Yonaka's. At the rate Yonaka was coming up on Yuri, Darien knew that they would either over shoot the couple or he would have one hell of a skidding stop, yet he was hardly prepared for what really happened. Yonaka came to a semi-skidding halt before he reared and almost flipped on to his back with Darien still on him; managing to hang on and get Yonaka on his four legs and not moving he looked around and saw Serenity staring wide eyed and behind her were the Palace Gates.

Neither of them didn't know what to say by what had just transpired so Serenity just shook her head and turned Yuri towards that Palace Gate and proceeded in a stately walk, yet to Darien's eyes it seemed that Yuri had a little bit of a prance in her step, as if to show off to Yonaka. Yonaka may have been breathing a little heavy but that was not about to stop him from being left behind by Yuri a second time, and he trotted up next to them and a little ahead before he adjusted his pace to a walk.

Once next to Serenity and both horses on autopilot to the Gates he asked, "So where will be heading today? Any place in particular?" Serenity nodded at this and said, "Well we don't have a set schedule or any thing, but I sort of have an idea of some places I think we be nice to see. The first of which is through the Royal Forest outside the Palace, and then after that I thought he could stop and see the horse trader convention located on the outskirts of the Kingdom; you also were so thoughtful as to bring a lunch so perhaps we could eat there." Darien nodded and asked how big the convention was and she replied, "It's a yearly thing that happens once a year in the Spring time; horse traders come from all over and no one wants to miss it. Each year for the past 102 years it's been help pretty much on what the people call the front lawn of the Crystal Palace, but it's really several miles away from here and located on a large grassy knoll. They trade, buy and sell mostly yearlings, such as colts and fillies but there are some of the finer mares, geldings, and stallions that are traded. They normally don't get traded as they get older but if a horse devolves a different talent, such as jumping or speed, than the owner needs then it'll go up for sale of trade."

They had stuff like this down on Earth to so most of this information was already known to him but he found it surprising that she knew so much about in and seemed to enjoy talking about it, so he didn't want to interrupt her. So as she talked Darien just nodded every now and then and tried to focus on anything but her soft, luscious lips. The lips that he wanted so badly to kiss and feel upon his skin where one thing he could not focus on right now and that's how his vision came to rest upon the Lily in her hair. It suited her beautifully he thought to himself, and she seemed to like it so much that she wore it out, and yet he couldn't help but wonder if she had figured out that it was him and she wore it just to test him. So mentally he decided that as long as she didn't say anything to him or hint at anything he would continue to give her flowers; in an attempt to make her not hate him of course, nothing else was meant by him giving then to her right?

Serenity fell silent as she finished explaining the horse convention and Darien didn't feel the needed to ruin the peace and quiet, so together in the silence they rose out through the Gates and on to a brick, paved like road. They came to a fork in the road and Serenity steered Yuri to the left which was marked 'Private Royal Forest', so naturally Yonaka turned and followed with out any direction from Darien. As they continued down the road a large, lush forest began to come into view; since it was mid-spring the trees and plant life was flourishing and that animals were spirited.

They road tapered off into a well worn dirt path and veered even more sharply to the left than before leading them straight to the edge of the forest. The trees were spaced fairly far apart and allowed for the horses to not feel claustrophobic and to move quickly if needed; they leaves were a vibrant green and there were many plants that were completely foreign to the Prince of Earth. There were some of the same ones as from the Royal Forest back home and wondered which ones were planted first; and when he looked around to ask the Princess, he found that Yonaka was standing there by himself and Yuri fairly far ahead and about to walk under the tree's shady green canopy with out him.

_Either she's just oblivious to her surrounding or she enjoyed leaving him behind, _he thought to himself, and he seriously suspected the latter. So catching up to her, once again, he decided not to ask about the trees but instead asked about the various other plant life they came upon. Even though she kept leaving him behind, she answered all his questions and even nodded and listened to him when he compared various Earth flowers to the ones he saw. He found that he really enjoyed her company when she wasn't standoffish towards him, or being provocative in the way only she could, and wished that this wasn't the last day of rest before he would have to start the diplomatic meetings, and Serenity to go back to her all day lessons.

Both started to feel hunger gnawing at their stomachs so Darien suggested that they head over to the horse trading convention and eat the lunch he had brought. Serenity's eyes lit up at this and she heartily agreed while reeling Yuri around and heading out of the forest at a trot. They went back the same way they had come in, but making better time and they quickly reached the fork in the road and continued on down the right path this time.

They passed only a few travelers going towards the Palace, most of them were miscellaneous merchants of some sort; all of them bowed in their saddles and if they were wearing hats they removed them in a flourish as well. The smiles that Princess Serenity received seemed genuine and the nods or glances that Darien received were respectful, no doubt that they were being cautious since he was not well known on the Moon. They went up a slight hill and as the emerged over the top Darien couldn't help but gasp at the view that greeted him.

The Convention was enormous and stretched on for what seemed and probably was miles. There were so many horses and so many people, that Darien felt a little overwhelmed; Serenity picked up on this and smiled then suggested that they have lunch before they began looking at all the livestock. Darien laughed away his sense of awe and kicked Yonaka into a gallop down the hill and left Serenity clamoring at her reigns as Yuri tried to follow and calling after him; _Let's see how she likes being left behind, at least she'll be able to see where I'm going. I see the perfect little patch of grass to set up our lunch on._

He laughed again at the bewildered looks he got from the people he got a fleeting glance at and turned around behind him to see where Serenity was and was please to see her through him a bemused look. He tossed his head indicating to the area he was going to; turning back around he saw that they way was clear ahead of him and let Yonaka take off at his full speed. Reaching the spot then over shooting it, he turned the speeding black stallion around in a hair-pin turn and went back. He swung himself out the saddle and stretched his legs out while he watched Serenity reign Yuri back in and try to ignore all the bewildered looks she was getting. He could only imagine what her people where thinking, after all a complete stranger in the presence of the Princess just suddenly came sprinting past them followed by the Royal Princess hot on his heels.

He hoped that this wouldn't cause too much gossip; that was one thing he really hated and wouldn't want to be part of it his first trip here. _Well maybe I should have thought of that before I took off down the hill. I guess that I just forgot that we both have political lives. mental sigh If only we were just normal people._ Serenity trotted up to where he was standing and glared at him, but when he offered her his hand to help her down she took it with delicacy and grace. As soon as both horses were rider less they began to frolic with each other and Yuri whinnied as if to say that she wanted to go faster but her rider wouldn't let her.

He grabbed the saddle bag off of Yonaka that contained lunch and proceeded to unpack it. First he laid out a large sitting cloth, so as not to stain their clothing, and then set out the multitude of different culinary dishes that the Head Chef and packed. After Darien tied the horses to a near by post and both he and Serenity had seated themselves it seems that all the watchful eyes lost interested and stopped watching them. The buzzing noise of business and haggling picked back up and the tension between Serenity and Darien lifted; he hadn't even noticed that it was there until it was gone.

They got themselves their own plates and ate in silence just talking in the sites and smells, which thankfully weren't bad since they weren't sitting next to the compost heap. When they had finished eating Darien began to feel bad for making a spectacle and said, "Listen Buns, I mean Serenity, I'm sorry for my behavior. I seem to have forgotten what our positions were and got carried away." She stiffened at the nickname and didn't reply till he asked if she wanted to get up and look around at some of the horses.

They cleaned and packed what food was left, which was quite a substantial amount, then stood up and stretched. And with a few words from Serenity to Yuri that she'd better behave, they were off and meandering through the multitudes of trader's stalls and pens. Each trader was give a pen and a stall for their livestock, where they were here to purchase, trade or auction. Their meandering took a long time, all the while they talked with some of the traders, or about such and such horse and how he would turn out. Darien was glad that she didn't seem to be mad at him for his behavior or him calling her that nickname, yet he still felt bad and began thinking of ways to make it up to her. He hadn't come up with anything when they reached the last pen and Serenity let out a loud gasp and ran forward towards the pen's fencing.

What he saw inside was a white and black spotted filly that looked to be younger than half a year; the baby girl was prancing around in a circle, mane and tail flying as it went as fast as it's little knobby legs would let it. Looking down at Serenity he could immediately see that she was in love with the little filly and he discovered his apology present. It would have to wait until he could talk to the trader and the Queen about the purchase price; the trader could be talked to now if Darien could locate him and not give himself away in the process. Looking around he saw a man leaning against the stall next to the pen and quietly walked over to him leaving the Princess crouched down next to the fence and feeding the filly some oats.

The man looked up at Darien and then looked over at the Princess then immediately jumped up and began to walk over towards them. Darien managed to stop him before he reached the Princess and beckoned him over and around the corner where Serenity wouldn't see them. The man looked back forth between the two of them and finally decided that Darien was worth his time and followed him.

"As you can see my good man, that the Princess Serenity is quite in love with the little filly you have there and I'm wondering about the cost for her." Darien asked in hushed professional tones and blinked in surprise when the man's reply was, "Before I do business with any one I need to know who they are. So who are you to be traveling in the Moon Princess' company? I take you are her body guard? I thought that she already had four Guardians. I guess that she needed more." Darien shook his head and said, "No, I'm afraid you are mistaken. I am Prince Darien of Earth, me and the Princess are out for the day and this was one of our stops. I beg your forgiveness for not introducing myself, some times I forget that I've only been here for three day. "

The trader let out an exclamation and an "ah-ha!" before saying, "I knew I recognized you! You are King Vincent's son correct? Good man your father is. Ok now that the introductions are out of the way, and I know you come from an honorable family, what was that about the filly over there?" Darien tried to think of the best way to tell him it was going to be an apology gift before saying, "Well as you can see the Princess really likes the filly you have and I fear that I may have been rude and embarrassed her so to make it up to her I wish to give that filly to her. I pulled you over here to discuss the price you are asking for her."

The man looked between him and around the corner at the Princess and a knowing glint appeared behind his eyes; he didn't say anything about it though and instead told Darien that he could have he for free. Darien's jaw almost dropped at this and asked why, and was something wrong with the filly; the man said no and that he understood what Darien was going through and that the filly was a wise choice, and besides, he wanted to be known as the provider of horses for the Princess.

Darien explained that he wanted it to be a surprised and asked the man to hold on to it till he could come and pick her up and they settled on a day and time for him to come by. Just as they where shaking hands on it the voice of a worried Serenity could be heard calling for him; he walked around the corner and told her that he needed to use the restroom and hadn't wanted to bother her so he left real quick.

After Darien pried the Princess away from the filly and the grinning trade, they made their way back to Yonaka and Yuri with Serenity going on and on about the little baby horse. As soon as the horses came into their view she ran on ahead and exclaimed to Yuri about how she would have loved the little baby horse.

Finally getting mounted again, they left the horse trading convention and headed into the Kingdom. It was a crowed, yet clean, bustling city, with beautiful architecture and tiled roads. The people moved readily out of there way and there were numerous cheers for Serenity as they proceeded and she waved to almost every one. It was obvious that the people loved their Princess a great deal, that is except one, and that was when all hell broke loose.

Darien was the first to see a tall, dark figure standing from a shop window; Darien was about to look away from him as it looked like he was turning away to go inside and then belatedly realized that he wasn't turning away, he was drawing back his arm to loose an arrow!

With a yell he lunged off Yonaka and towards Serenity and carried both of them to the ground with a loud thud; that was when the crowed erupted and the screaming began. It all seemed a dream to Darien as he became painfully aware of the tiny yet perfect female body underneath him; he closed his eyes and swallowed and expected to be hit or at least a yell to come from trapped Princess. Yet neither came, so he cautiously opened his eyes and found a wide eyed young woman staring at him, her hair was spread out behind her, then she said, "You protected me?"

He nodded dumbly, too distracted by the feeling of her delicate from and her parted lips; a sparks flew between her fingers and his cheek as she raised a hand to his face. He could feel himself being drawn down to her lips that he was just dying to kiss when he screamed out in agony.

A sharp stab of intense, burning pain ripped through his shoulder and he collapsed on to his side in pain. Now freed from his weight Serenity crouched down next to him and began to cry hot wet tears as she laid her eyes on the arrow protruding from Darien's shoulder. Her blue watery eyes were the last thing he saw before his world went black.

SERENITY'S POV

_No! NO! _NO! she screamed mentally and out loud. "Why! This can't be happening, please no, no, no… please." By the end of her sentence she was whispering into his good shoulder. He had just saved her life, twice! He didn't deserve this! Not after she just… _not after I just what?_ She thought, she was so confused on her emotions and her feeling for him, he couldn't leave her like this, not before she knew what all these feeling meant and what he meant.

Another sob racked her body but this time and intense heat began to form in her chest. She sat down on the ground, pulled the arrow out and moved his head into her lap; her unstoppable tears falling onto his cheeks. The heat in her chest began to intensify and she began to pray to the Moon and the holy shrine for her Prince to live.

Suddenly the heat that was building in her chest released all that energy and a huge burst of blinding light at the same time. The energy washed over her and Darien in waves and seemed to erase all their surroundings and in the palm of her hands a crystal formed. It was hot to the touch and an even brighter light flowed out of it and into Darien; after a fem moments the light subsided, the bleeding stopped, and a rapidly cooling crystal was left behind.

Serenity's world began to dim, she closed her palm over the crystal, and some were deep in her heart she knew that he would live and then she collapsed on him…..

MINA'S POV

Mina was out in the courtyard practicing some fighting forms when a young boy on a large horse came flying past her and almost trampled her in the process; she was about to yell at him but as she saw who it was and that he was crying she held her tongue. The boy jumped down off of the huge horse and came running over to her tears staining his cheeks and began to mumble and cry something that was completely incoherent. "Calm down. There, there, it's ok. Now slow down and tell me what the matter is." She told him, when he sniffled and said, "Pwincess Sewentiy is dead. A scarwy man attacked her but a big man jumped off his horws and twied to swaveded her. They are bof dead"

Upon hearing this Mina yelled for a servant to take the boy to the Queen and jumped on to the horse that the boy had ridden and took off at full speed towards the village. The words _She can't be Dead. She can't be Dead. She can't be Dead_ ran through her mind the whole time; even with this mantra going through her head, she felt angry tears begin to roll down her face.

Galloping full speed into the Kingdom she spotted a large crowd surrounding something and knew what it was. Yelling for every one to get out of her way, she jumped from the horse before it even stopped and made her was through the now parted crowd. A sob came out of her as she laid eyes on the scene before here; Prince Darien was lying upon his back in a pool of blood and her princess collapsed atop of him.

She knelt down and felt for a pulse on both of them and another sob broke out of her, but this time from joy as she found that they were both alive.

Her Princess was still alive.

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Ok.. so a ton happened this chapter and it's my longest one.. I hope everything came out ok... boy I'm beat… ****Well I hope that you like this and it wasn't confusing… I tried to copy little kid language when the little boy talked to Mina, so that's may be why not might make sense.. Hope to see you next chapter!**

**Please read and Review!**

**W/ Love, Hime-chan **


	13. Chapter 13

**Ok.. so I've been a horrible Horrible procrastinator.. I'm mean it's been way to long between chapters.. I'm So so so so so so so so so so so so so so!! Sorry! Life just caught up with me between my love life, track season and graduation it's been hectic! So thank you so much to any one who has read, or favorited this story in any way... lol it really helped to know that at least some people like it my story… **

**Now that I'm outta school forever (lol until college that is which won't be for another year) I want to try and finish this story ASAP and hopefully I won't have any writers blocks or such.. **

**Now this is really where it picks up... and yes for all of those who thinks it's to fast... it might be for some but some times it Just feels right...**

**WARNING: this chapter contains graphic material. (But it's towards the end so…)**

**Disclaimer… I don't own sailor moon, just this story, thoughts, and any made up characters…**

_**Chapter 13 of TsukiHime**_

_**The Awakening**_

MIXED POV

Serenity felt as if she was floating; just drifting through warmth that was both healing and protective. She had no thoughts, no body, just the feeling of warmth. She slowly began to become aware of a little feeling, and a bright light that filled her awakening senses. Small thoughts were beginning to surface of where was she and what was she feeling. These were replaced and she became aware of voices, voices that were filled with strong emotions. She had to concentrate before she could figure it out; it was anger and frustration. Now she began to listen to what they words were,

"We need to try something more! It's been over three weeks and she will most likely die soon if she is not brought out of the comma!" Said a female voice. Serenity thought she knew that voice but couldn't put a face with it

There were several murmurs of what where probably agreement after this comment and then silence before a quieter, husky voice said,

"Now girls, I completely understand your anger and frustration at my patients and seemingly lack of care for my daughter but this situation is very complex and complicated. It can not just be fixed by the conventional methods of the doctors on either the Moon or Earth, so if you would just please trust you Queen when it comes to this matter, I will do my best to explain it to you once this is resolved"

After this woman finished speaking Serenity couldn't help but wonder who they were talking about and if the poor girl was alright. The voice sounded even more familiar and Serenity had almost puzzled out the identity when a third female voice spoke up.

"We do trust you Your Majesty but she is also our charge given unto us upon her birth and she is all we have ever lived for, and all we will ever live for. What happened out in the Kingdom shouldn't have. I'm not blaming the Prince for this in any way, he took an arrow for the Princess and from the reports, and it seems that he also protected her from an earlier one as well. It's just that this all came to a shock for us and we need to know she is ok before we can resolve the rest. So as we put our trust in you please forgive us for our inpatients to see Serenity well again."

The husky voice from earlier replied, "I understand Amy, as much as I can from a mother's point of view. Now why don't you ladies go see how Prince Darien is doing? I promised his father that I would send him an update as soon as possible today and Doctor Setsuna should just about be done with her analysis."

Once again there were some murmurs but this time it was followed by the sound of feet and swishing skirts. But from this conversation Serenity had heard a name, and a vague impression of a face came to her. As more silence followed Serenity began to have thoughts as to who this Prince was and what was he this princess who was injured.

Slowly a mental picture formed of a handsome prince in her mind. He was tall, with raven colored hair that looked as soft as silk and deep ocean blue eyes. His body was lean and muscular with a commanding presence and wonderful shoulders. Serenity could just imagine what it would be like to be held in those amazing arms, and be up close to him. She began to dream that she was with her prince and forgot about discovering who the Prince and Princess where.

Her dream took her to the Gardens where they were held in each others arms while dancing beneath a deep, dark blue sky filled with brilliant twinkling little stars. Slowly they began to stop dancing made there way over to a bench and sat down hand in hand. She looked up into eyes and could help but feel that she knew them, yet her eyes were drawn slowly down wards to his lips and thoughts of kissing him became the only thing on her mind. As if drawn towards each other she watched as his lips slowly came closer and closed her eyes.

As quickly as it began her eyes shot open and all her memories came flooding back to her. She was the Princess, Darien was the Prince, the woods, the convention, the ride through town, the tumble to the ground, followed by heavily mixed emotions, and a scream from Darien as an arrow pierced his shoulder. And finally her desperate pleads to the Moon for him to not die, a growing heat in her chest, and lastly both of them being consumed by a brilliant, blinding white light before she plunged into total darkness.

She must have screamed when she woke because her mother came rushing into the room and to her bedside. Tears were streaming down both of their faces, but both for different reasons. Serelaina's were from the immense amount of relief that her daughter was finally awake after all these weeks and Serenity's from the pain at thinking she had lost Darien.

"Momma, I lost him didn't I? I tried so hard! I prayed with all my heart! And it still wasn't enough! I tried!" cried Serenity and kept repeating "I tried" in a broken whispering voice. Her mother was stunned and racked her brain before she suddenly realized that her daughter meant Darien; Serenity had no idea that he was alive, conscience but alive and well considering he had been shot with an arrow. Serenity had saved and healed him completely before she passed into a comatose state. Serelaina shushed and calmed her daughter till she was quite enough to hear her.

"No, no! My Darling, you saved Darien! He's alive and well and in his room. You did nothing wrong my love. It's ok now, you don't have to worry yourself any more." She said.

With these words came fresh tears and an immense amount of relief. These intense feelings were too much for the already weak princess and she felt herself drift off into a deep dreamless slumber. Serelaina watched as her daughter's eyes slowly dropped close and her whole body relaxed. Quickly her soft rhythmic breathing could be heard through out the room as Serelaina continued to stroke her daughter's hand.

Slowly standing up once she knew that her daughter was resting peacefully she walked past Serenity's flower covered vanity and into the sitting room. She sat down in the same comfortable chair she sat in for almost every hour of every day for the past month and begins to contemplate the relationship between Darien and Serenity. She thinks about their behavior and what happened with the Crystal and begins to get a good idea.

SERENITY'S POV

Serenity slowly became aware of lights shifting and dancing across her closed lids. At first she found them slightly annoying and rolled over to her side with a moan, but it was too late, she was already awake. She rolled back over on to her back and slightly cracked her eyes open. It appeared the lights really weren't all that bright and that they had just seemed that way while she still sleeping, but they also told her that it was late afternoon and that she should really get up.

Opening her eyes fully now she saw that she was alone in her room but she had no idea if any one was in her sitting room. She suspected that there might be considering her condition. As she thought this a fresh wave of emotion and thoughts flooded her mind; to head them off and any new tears she closed her eyes and took a deep steadying breath.

_I'm ok, and I remember my mother saying that Darien was ok… I wonder if he's woken up yet. I really want to go see him but I don't think I could face him, not yet at least. And especially not after that dream I had about us kissing, my goodness, _she thought to herself. After these steadying thoughts she felt relieved and opened her eyes again, and this time they fell on her vanity which was covered in flowers of every sort, but there seemed to be quite a lot of Midnight Lilies mixed in with them. Serenity smiled as she realized that even though she was unconscious for the past three weeks someone had still thought to bring her one flower a day, but she still couldn't figure out who it was. Yet she was sure that if she really thought about it she could figure it out but for now she was content to just sit and admire them.

Wanting to wake up a little more before being bombarded with hugs, kisses and questions, Serenity decided that she needed to use the restroom. She pulled back the covers to see that she was in a night gown; she also noticed that appeared to be clean and blushed at the thought of having someone change her clothing for her for the past month. Yet she also noticed a slight, cold weight hanging between her breasts and looked down and gasped as she saw the Crystal that had appeared had been made into a beautiful pendant. A little stunned but not really sure what to make of it she swung her legs over the side of the bed and weakly made her way to her bathroom.

Her thoughts were jumbled and slightly confused and full of questions as Serenity came back out and crawled back into bed feeling physically tired and weak. At this point Serenity cleared her throat and was about to call for some one her door flung open and Serenity was suddenly buried under four very heavy bodies. Her four Guardians were all tears, hugs, and exclamations of happiness.

After all kisses, tears, and words were exchanged Serelaina intervened and shuffled the rest of the girls out it to the sitting room and then pulled a chair to Serenity's bedside. She sat and arranged her skirts then folded her hands in her lap, all the while not looking up at her daughter.

When Serenity finally couldn't stand it any more she asked, "Mother I've known you all my life so you should also know that I am able to tell when something is bothering or troubling you. You've never been able to hide it from me, and why should you now. I know you have an idea about what happened to me and you know I want answers and nothing you do is going to keep them from me."

Her mother looked up at her with a startled expression that quickly turned into amusement and she shook her head ruefully before saying, "Your right Serenity. I know that, but that still doesn't mean I don't want to shelter you from the thought and problems that plague me. But this is one issue that I know we need to discuss; it's just hard for me."

Serenity sighed at this and thought to herself about how even though her mother was such a strong and wise leader, Serenity would always be her little pig tailed baby princess. Even though she knew her mother had said it was going to be hard she had a feeling it was much more than that, so she decided to help her along before she dwelled on it any more.

"I know it's hard for you mother but telling me now will save both me and you trouble later." She said in a gentle yet stern voice. Her mother straightened up on her chair and

asked her daughter to explain in her own words every thing leading up to the appearance of the crystal. After hearing all that her daughter had to say, excluding that part when she and Darien almost kissed when he fell on her, Serelaina drew a deep breath and explained the History of the Silver Crystal.

"As you now know, you are now in possession of a Crystal. This Crystal is the legacy of the Women of the Moon Kingdom and is called the Silver Crystal. This Crystal holds immense power but only the one and only true user can tap into it. This Crystal is passed on from one generation of Moon Queens and Princess to the next, but it's not always visible." At this Serenity quirked an eyebrow in question but kept silent as her mother put up a finger indicating that she wasn't done yet.

"The Silver Crystal has only surfaced once in the last century and that was with your great-great grandmother, Queen Selenity and that was in a time of great need. Her circumstance in which the Crystal revealed itself was very similar to yours my dear. But with this new power she had to learn very quickly how to control it, or she would die."

Before Serenity could control herself and exclamation escaped from her lips, "What?! Are you telling me that I'm going to die if I can't manage the Silver Crystal's power!?" She finished this sentence slightly winded and fell back on her pillows and closed her eyes. At this her mother shook her head at her daughter's rash out burst and continued on.

"Now, as I said before her circumstance was similar, but not exact. The Crystal responded to her need to save someone very dear to her, much the same as when you prayed to the Moon shrine." At this point Serelaina neglected to say that it was actually almost the exact same. Selenity had prayed to save her husband to be, and even if Serenity hadn't seen it yet, she had deep feelings for Prince Darien but Serelaina was content to let them figure this out on their own.

"At the time she prayed the Moon Palace was under attack by a rebellious group from the dark side of our moon. She was about to be struck down when some one else took the blow for her and it was then that the Crystal reacted. The Silver Crystal healed her savoir but remained ready for. You see the amount of emotion coming from Selenity kept the Silver Crystal active, and full of power. She was so furious with her attackers that the Crystal was able to take over her and she began to blindly attack the rebels with out mercy."

Serenity eyes widened at this and look down at the pendant suddenly fearful and in awe of the jewel at the same time. She couldn't help but begin to wonder why it had decided to show up now if it only did in times of need; did its appearance mean that there was going to be trouble? Enough trouble that it felt that it was needed to obliterate armies? But before she could ask these questions her mother continued.

"This outburst of power did not last long as the number of rebels and Selenity's energy both began to dwindle down till both were nonexistent. After the rebels were scattered and fled from the Palace, Selenity passed out and was in a coma for about the same amount of time as you were. So now this means that you two are pretty much on the same page, and I'm not going to beat around the bush. You need to harness the power of the Silver Crystal and protect the Moon Palace."

Serenity didn't want to argue but grabbed the pendant with her hand then asked, "And how am I supposed to do that? Do you know where I'm even supposed to start in this learning process? Because I know nothing about this Silver Crystal that you haven't just told me!"

Serenity was scared, scared of the immense power she would have to wield, of the possibility that she might fail her people, that she might kill an innocent, of so many things that she didn't know what else to say but fell silent instead and tried to control her emotions. As she did this the Crystal pendant in her hand quickly grew hot and flared with light before suddenly returning to its original state.

Serenity quickly removed the pendant from around her neck and gaped at in surprise. _Did I just do that?_ She thought to herself. Her mother, startled yet proud at the same time said, "See my dear, it reacts to your emotions, and it's going to be up to you to harness it. But for now I think this talk is enough, we will set up a training time for you after you've gained some of you strength back; you have been bedridden for a month now. Now why don't you rest while I bring up some food for you?"

And with that Serelaina swept from the room leaving a very confused and frazzled princess in her wake. Serenity began to replay the story her mother had just told her and couldn't help but compare it to her own. Thinking about everything she was just told she found herself asking the one question she didn't think she was ready to answer…. What did Darien _mean_ to her? Somewhere deep down in her own sub-conscience she knew the answer…

DARIEN'S POV

Darien could slowly feel himself being brought back into the world of the waking with small tugs at his conscience, from bright lights to a gnawing hunger in his stomach. He opened his eyes to see his room flooded with sunlight and to find that he was dressed in only a pair of boxers. Mortification struck him at the thought of knowing some one had been changing him for god only knows how long.

At this time a tall exotic woman in a white doctors cost came striding in the room, not even bothering to knock. She appeared to be reading over a clip board loaded with many sheets of paper, before she could see that he was awake he quickly pulled up the covers over his mostly naked body. Hearing the rustle of the cloth the woman looked up and chuckled at the needless modesty.

"Prince Darien there is no need to be ashamed now. I am Dr. Setsuna, and personal physician to her Royal Highness Queen Serelaina and you have been in my care for the past month and I a sure you that I have yet to take advantage of any of my patients. Now would you please so kindly sit up straight and allow me to explain what happened since I have no doubt that you don't remember the incident." Darien was slightly confused until all the memories came to him and his immediate question was, "What happened to Princess Serenity?!"

"Calm down your Highness, the Princess is perfectly fine thanks to your quick thinking and action. Both of you have been in a coma for three weeks now and today is the first day that either of you have been awake. By all accounts your shoulder injured by an arrow but was repaired by our Princess and the awakening of the Silver Crystal. Other then you being in a coma, you are perfectly healthy and there is little to no scaring on your shoulder."

Darien could only nod and when she was finished she did some check up tests to see how his strength was after being bedridden for a month. When she was done she just shook her head and in a slightly exasperated voice said, "Well Prince Darien, it seems that you have a remarkable amount of energy! You don't appear to have any of the normal signs that a person should after being immobile for a month, but I'll be back tomorrow to see if that's still true. So for today please just stay in bed unless you need to use the restroom." After she had confirmed that he understood she left him to his own thoughts.

Still sitting up in bed Darien began to process what Dr. Setsuna had told him and noticed that she had failed to mention how the Princess had saved him and what the Silver Crystal was. He let that day replay in his mind, from the convention, which reminded him of the little baby filly that he was supposed to get for Buns, and then him jumping and bringing Serenity down, then all the emotions that he felt while she was under him. How tempting she looked and felt and how close he had come to kissing her, and then it being interrupted by a horrible pain.

After remembering this he began to realize that he wasn't just trying to get Serenity to like him…she meant something to him, and it sounded like love...

After this thought he felt as if a great weight was lifted off of him and felt that it would be best if he went back to sleep…

_Darien looked up to see a black curvy figure silhouetted against the bright night sky. Darien blinked and noticed that who ever it was was coming towards him; he blinked again and realized that it was Princess Serenity….. clad in only a sheer robe… He gulped and closed his eyes and willed himself to ask why she was here_.

_When she said, "Because I need you Darien," he knew that all hopes of his…. problem... going away were now impossible. Darien opened his eyes and noticed that she still continued to walk towards the bed with an appealing sway of her hips. He found that he had lost his voice and continued to stare dumbstruck at the beautiful Moon Princess as she reached his bedside and placed on knee up on the mattress. He turned away from this as this action cause her to reveal one very smooth, very pale, and very temping thigh. He felt a throb in his now erect manhood as she said, "Darien, please? Why won't you look at me? I need you."_

_He turned back to her only to regret it as he saw that her already flimsy robe had now slipped all the way off one of her slim, smooth shoulders and was threatening to reveal even more if it wasn't pulled back up. Darien's eyes roamed over her tempting little body and came to rest on her tempting little lips, heck he found everything about her tempting but those lips… all the things they could do and how they would feel… He sub-consciously licked his own lips and felt himself being drawn towards a kiss as Serenity closed her blues eyes and slightly puckered her lips._

Darien sat up in his bed as a loud banging noise brought him from his sleep and dreams. He looked over and saw that his doors to his balcony had been blown open and that there was no damage. He leaned back on his pillows and heaved a sigh of relief… that is until he remembered what he had been dreaming about.

As he lifted the covers to get out of bed to go close the doors he sees that his boxers are still tented an erection. _Oh dear God what have I gotten myself into? I'm never going to be able to get over this one... not like the other ones I've had…_ He thought to himself. As he got back into bed he tried to roll over and get comfortable but no matter which way he laid he couldn't get comfortable and even if he did as soon as he closed his eyes haunting images of a certain scantily clad blonde goddess floated through his vision.

With and almost huff he sat up in bed and concluded that he would have to take care of this if he wanted to get any more sleep. He glanced back out the balcony doors and saw that the sun was just about to peep over the horizon, meaning he should have enough time to relive himself.

He made his way over to the bathroom and stood over the toilet as to not make mess, dropped his boxers and gripped one hand around his throbbing cock and used the other one to steady himself against the wall. He slowly lets his mind wander back to the dream and the words, "I need you." He imagines that he reaches up a hand and while caressing her bare shoulder he draws down the rest of the robe till it pools around her waist and thigh that's still on the bed. This revealing her perfect pale breasts and causes her to let out a delicious gasping sigh. Darien begins to pump even harder as he imagines this and can feel himself getting close…

He slightly grazes her cheek while trailing it down wards over the column of her throat and watches fascinated as she swallows... and then down her collar bone and in between the valley of her breasts continuing till he drags his finger along the underside of one of her breasts once again drawing a reaction from her, this one a slight whimper and her arching her back eager for more touch.

Even though this is all in Darien's mind it's too much for him and he cum with a loud grunt and pumps his fist furiously seeking ultimate relief. When he's finished he washes his hands and cleans up himself and the mess and then makes his way back to bed feeling in need of more sleep. By the time his head hits the pillow he falls into a peaceful dreamless sleep.

The next time he awakes he sees that Dr. Setsuna is sitting as his writing desk working on more paper work. Seeing that she didn't notice he politely coughs and she looks up at him saying, "Well good morning Prince Darien, you seem to have quite the healthy glow this morning. I assume that means that you are healthy enough to be let out of bed, so it's ok for you to leave your room and walk about. I suggest you go for a swim and the pool next to the Gardens; it's really quite pretty and always that perfect temperature. And if you feel up to it there will be a ball the day after tomorrow that you are more than welcome to attend."

And with that she nodded politely and quietly left the room before he could think what to say._ Well good thing she didn't ask why I had a healthy glow, that surely would have caused a lot of problems and embarrassments, _he thought to himself. He decided that going for a swim would be quite nice right now but first he had a man to see about a horse and with that he got out of bed and got ready.

SERENITY'S POV

The next morning when Serenity's maid dropped off her breakfast her mother followed her in and sat on the side of her bed while she ate. They just discussed simple minor things until Serenity gasped out lout as her mother reminded her of the up coming Spring Ball. Her mother told her that she would be healthy enough to attend but in the mean time she wasn't restricted to her bed any more. So she decided that she would head down to the Gardens and the pool after she was dressed for the day.

**Ok so this was a long chapter and I wanted to get more into it but this seemed like a much better place to stop than where I had originally planned… I hope you guys liked it…. I tried really really hard... Well I love you all!**

**Pretty please Read and Review! **

**W/ Love, Hime-chan **


	14. Chapter 14

**Um yeah… he he so... Don't really have much to say other than life can get the best of you… And not always in a good way… So it's been almost a whole year since I've posted anything and I sincerely apologize. I hope that some of my old followers will come back to this story and that I will hopefully gain new ones… but I really won't be offended if they don't... I haven't been the most loyal to this story so I can hardly judge. **

**I will also be going over and making some minor changes in the previous chapters and the story set up. Things like chapter titles and spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**Oh! I am still looking for a Beta who is actually willing to put up with me and my horrible mistakes. :p Any ways enough with the notes! On to the LLOOONNNGG awaited story!**

**P.s. I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WHO TOOK TIME TO READ AND REVIEW/ FAVORITE/ ALERT THIS STORY!! I DON'T THINK YOU REALIZE THAT YOU ARE MY TRUE MOTIVATION BEHIND WRITING AGAIN!! I really took time and read all the amazingly thoughtful people who replied to what happened to me. I really owe you guys. 3 You are all amazing people!**

**KEY;**

_Italics = thoughts_

" - - - - " = talking

_***** ** *** ** *****_ = time lapse

**Disclaimer: I own Diddly Squat and a Kitten... other than that I do not own the Famous Sailor Moon Series. ^^ (Oh but the story, plot, and made-up characters are my prisoners.)**

_**Chapter 14 of TsukiHime**_

_**The Preparations**_

DARIEN'S POV

After a light breakfast Darien decided half way to the stables that he would just talk to Andrew about finding the trader who owned the little filly. He was afraid that after spending a month in a coma, even though he felt fine, that people would worry that something happened t o him if someone decided to look for him. They would start to look for him and this would lead to questions and this would lead to people finding out where he went and surely, just like any other place with servants, the gossip would spread that the prince of Earth was getting a present for the Moon Princess… The princess he just happened to take an arrow for.

Walking up to the stables to find it bustling with errand boys, stable hands, and cleaning maids, he sought to find Andrew and pull him aside without making too much of a scene. Seeing that Andrew was nowhere to be seen, Darien continued on to the back of the stable only to come upon a secluded couple hushing each other.

He didn't want to disturb them knowing that such a confrontation would only lead to embarrassment to both parties involved until he noticed that not only was the gentlemen taller than average and had the same coloring as Andrew but the woman he was with was also unusually tall… and looked suspiciously like Serenity's Guardian, Lita.

Deciding he had no choice but to intervene he lets out an uncomfortable noise that was somewhere in between an "ahem" and a cough. Stepping out into a particularly bright patch of sunlight so they would easily see him, he chuckles as they jump apart. _Geeze one would think that they were kids who got caught after stealing cookies or something, _he thinks to himself.

Seeing them clearly now that they are apart from each other, Darien sees that his assumption about their identities was correct, which was at once a relief and awkward at the same time. An angry and rather nervous Lita yells out "Geeze Pretty Boy! You almost got your ass handed to you when you startled me like that! Don't you have anything better to other than sneaking up while two people are- … Ah-ah…um." Stopping suddenly, the words dying on her lips; a perfuse blush spreading across her cheeks as she thinks about what she almost revealed and to whom she was speaking.

Andrew starts to fix his shirt, while Lita straightens up her hair, neither of them looking at the other. Realizing that he couldn't stall any longer, Andrew looked to Darien and let out an undignified "Um.." before clearing his throat saying, "Hello Prince Darien. I assume you are here regarding the drop off for you?"

Looking startled at hearing this Darien quickly glanced over to a now very attentive and inquisitive looking Lita before replying, "I was not aware that I had received anything while I was in a coma."

"Oh yes your Highness! I know that you had arranged for-" Andrew began before a malicious glare stopped him mid-sentence, sent to him by one irritated Prince. He looked around and found that they had a gossip monger among them and that continuing this conversation in Lita's presence probably wasn't the best thing for his health right now if the facial expression of the Earth prince's face was anything to go by. Coughing slightly to cover up his slip he very diplomatically suggested that Lita head back to the Palace and that he would see her again soon. Taking the queue Darien also adds, "Good day to you Princess Lita; please give my kind regards to your fellow Princesses."

Suspiciously glancing between the two males, she huffs and mumbles something about a "good whooping" and "never grow up" before stomping off to towards the palace. Hearing Andrew let out a not-so-quiet sigh of relief, Darien turns him with a shake of his head and a _you-just-had-to-go-and-open-your-big-mouth-didn't you _look.

Thinking about it, Darien decides that pursuing the subject A) isn't going to get him anywhere and B) coming down to the stables to reprimand two people for enjoying each other's company was not his intent. So fully turning his attention to a sheepish Andrew he asks, "So concerning this "drop off", does it happen to be a black and white filly?"

Thankful that Darien didn't reprimand him for being with Lita he replies eagerly, "Oh yes Prince Darien! A kindly trader came by about a week and a half ago saying that you were interested in her and that you had originally planned to come pick her up a few days before. He had also since then heard that you had been injured and figured that you probably weren't in any shape to come pick up a frisky filly. He also informed me that it was probably for the best that it remains a secret that she was being delivered, so we discussed it and arranged for her to be put into the farthest Royal Pasture possible and that she would be a well kept secret. Which is true since no one but me knows that she is here; pretty little thing she is by the way. If our princess were to see her no doubt she would immediately fall in love with her; got a fine eye for horse flesh that girl does."

Andrew nodded slightly and gave a self satisfied smile, he turned from Darien beckoning for him to follow, no doubt to the pasture she was being kept in. Looking to see that no one was watching he silently follows the Head of the Stables to a pasture that was out a very good ways out of the way.

Besides being the only horse in the large pasture she was an unmistakably beautifully filly; at least as fine as the mare Serenity road now for sure. The little filly had grown over the last few weeks; grown more stable in her running, more confident in who she was and if it was possible even more beautiful. She was smart too for she instantly recognized Andrew and came trotting over the fence with a pretty little whiny that seemed to say hello.

Andrew loving patted her on the neck and pulled a few loose oats from his pocket, holding his hand out to her. Darien almost laughed when he saw how daintily the horse ate; she was more princess- like than Buns! _Maybe the horse will rub off on her and teach her some manners,_ he inwardly chuckled. Seeing that the horse was perfectly fine he left her in Andrew's obviously capably hands and decided that he need to take a swim.

SERENITY'S POV

After dressing, tucking a fresh lily in her hair, and packing the few things she would need once she was out of the pool, she quietly made her way down to the Gardens and the somewhat secret pool entrance. Humming to herself while she undresses, she is completely unconcerned about being seen. This was the Royal Gardens and the Royal Pool with in, meaning that the only other person who would be able to use this pool was her mother. Serenity giggled out loud at the thought of how despite how a strong woman Serelaina was that strength didn't apply to swimming outdoors with all the bugs and such.

Still humming to herself, she slipped into the pool, letting thoughts of what to do today float across her mind much like she was across the surface of the cool waters. Not having any lessons was a bright spot to her day and she knew that her girls must just by dying to get the gossip and give the gossip. Seeing as how she had gotten up early and knowing that she would be hungry by the time she was finished swimming she hoped she could persuade the girls to have a brunch session in the Parlor room. If the thought of food didn't appeal to them, then she would just have to resort to bringing up the fashions for the upcoming Spring Ball.

Being a princess of the Royal Moon Lineage had its benefits, they lived longer, healthier, healed quicker, and when adding the power of the Silver Crystal to it you had one super human immune system, but this still didn't mean that Serenity didn't feel the effects of being in a bed for a month. She could feel the tightness and stiffness of the muscles that seemed to want to protest after so little use.

Doing some laps and stretching the muscles in the cool water seemed to be the cure though and soon she felt completely better. Feeling like she had accomplished a little something for the day she allowed herself time to just relax and float again. This time her thoughts took a different direction though, one that wasn't as desirable as plans for the day, fashion, and food.

Images of Darien hovering above her came creeping into her mind no matter how hard she tried not to think about him or what happened. Try as hard as she might they persisted till she felt that she actually had to address the issue. She could clearly remember the look in his beautiful blue eyes as they went from worried to something different, and it was that something that she was afraid of. Not only because she couldn't identify it but because she was also afraid she was reciprocating it.

She felt wrong thinking of Darien as anything other than infuriating, rude, unbearable, cute… _Whoa! Wait, what? Where did that come from?*mental sigh* I guess I just can't deny it after all. Besides I think it's ok to think of him as cute. He did save my life not once, but twice, that must mean he has some redeemable traits,_ she thought to herself, _I guess I should try and be a little nicer was well. He's not completely insufferable all the time._

Looking up at the sun and judging that she needed to get out now before she began to prune, she slipped back out of the water and padded on light feet to where her stuff lay on a stone bench. Reaching into the bag she brought down with her, she grabs a short bathrobe and slips on her still wet body, not wanting to risk being seen just in case someone happened to come in._ Meaning Darien_, her mind muttered, yet she could help but feel a tiny thrill run through her body as she thought of the look in his eyes.

That "look" being the one he gave her when he saw her as a woman, not as a princess with money and power, but at who she was. Serenity knew that he wouldn't ever try anything but she was somewhat thrilled at the fact that he found her attractive. He was the first to really see her as anything but the little pigtailed princess that the whole kingdom seemed to remember. Sighing quietly, she continued cleaning up for the day before seeing the girls about brunch.

DARIEN'S POV

The way to the pool was an easy and simple one; he figured that it didn't really need to be too far out of the way seeing as how only Royals could use it. The only servants allowed to enter were gardeners to prune the hedges and keep the pool clean of natural debris.

Even before the pool came into view, the sound of splashing came from the direction he was heading. Seeing as how it could only be one of two options, the princess, or Queen, or a gardener, he felt that it was wise to proceed forward with caution. His caution proves to be of use; as he peeks around the corner he catches a glimpse of Serenity slipping on a knee length bathrobe.

At this point he doesn't really know whether or not to be thankful that he was just a little slow in looking. It would have been both at once a blessing and a curse to see her beautiful body exposed in all its glory. He resolves that it would have been a curse more than a blessing and is silently thankful that the robe isn't any shorter than knee length… nor that it is see-through despite her dripping wet body.

Still not ready to face the haughty princess, he keeps himself hidden behind the hedge making sure to pay attention if she decides to move his way. Peeking again he watches as she pulls out a slender silver brush and cobs out her long golden hair; trying all the while to not think of how it would fall through is fingers like liquid silk. If he kept thinking along those lines his body would betray him and that was NOT something he wanted to try and explain.

It takes her a considerable while to finish, meaning, that by the time she was finished she was practically dry from head to toe. She packs up her bag once more and instead of dressing again, she turns to a little gate on the other side of the pool's court yard. Darien can only just see it and the retreating form of the princess from his hiding spot.

Thinking that it's safe to come out he glances around before proceeding to the pool bathed in mid-morning rays of light. Stopping at the bench that Serenity had used, he lays his sword gently down and bends over to take his boots off. Not feeling the least bit self-conscious he strips down to all his naked, muscled glory and dives smoothly into the cool pool. Splashing through the surface of the already disturbed waters, he shakes out his midnight colored hair and face.

Images of Serenity begin to plague him as he beings to quietly tread water; once again his body reacts to the pretty princess making him growl with frustration. Trying to think of anything else to help reel in his dirty mind doesn't seem to be working. When thoughts do not prevail, he glances around for a distraction and notices that the far side of the pool's depth is deeper than where he dived in. Gliding quietly over and with seemingly no other choice, he dives down to the bottom of the pool, using its colder water fix his bodily problems.

SERENITY'S POV

Putting a hand up to push back a stray piece of hair Serenity suddenly stops in realization that she had forgotten to put the lily back into her hair. Huffing to herself in annoyance, she turns around in the small servants corridor and makes her way back to the pool. With nothing better to really do she thought along the way about the natural gifts. _I still have yet to figure out who the mysterious flowers are coming from. Whoever is giving them to me still continued to do so even when I was in a coma, meaning that it couldn't have been Darien._ Thinking that make her chest, no... not her chest, it was more like her heart, hurt a little. It was something that she didn't know how to describe, yet she somehow suspected that it was trying to tell her that she really _did _want Darien to be the one to give them to her.

Shaking her head ruefully, she couldn't believe at how much she was seeing him in a different light. _It's just natural after he saved your life twice; you wouldn't be human if you didn't like him a little after that._ Yet even as this thought passed through her conscience she knew it was just an excuse.

Coming to the entrance of the corridor she pushed open the light door open and proceeded to the gate. Seeing the gate was just around the corner she sped up her pace a little, only to find that as her hand touched the gate none other than Darien came splashing up through the surface. A small "eep" escaped her lips before she could wrangle herself back around the corner and clap a hand to her mouth. Her heartbeat going through the roof at almost getting caught as well as at the sight of a drenched, and, yes she'll admit it, handsome guy. _Breath, _she told herself, _breath. Just take big deep breaths and you'll be fine._

Not able to help her incurable curiosity, she poked her head around the corner to take another look at the swimming prince. Darien had by this point gone over to the shallower end of the pool where he was able to easily stand with his back facing her. The first thing she noticed was that he didn't have any scars where the arrow had pierced him then without realizing what she was doing, she found her eyes raking over his strong defined back muscles; an even more heated blush spreading across her face. She began wondering how they would feel rippling underneath her roving hands before stopping thoughts of those kinds from taking it any further with a strong internal admonishment and hiding back around the corner.

Being the princess of the moon meant that she had led a fairly sheltered life when it came to the opposite gender. Any interaction that she did have was altered to be fit for a queen in training. She had had plenty of time dealing with her own guardians to know to not be ashamed of her body but the number of times she had seen a guy even close to her age with his shirt off, much less anything else, could easily be counted on two hands. Reflecting on this, Serenity decided that she was glad that she couldn't see anything below the waist due to the sun reflecting off the water; it might have been quite a shock.

Knowing that she really wasn't ready to talk with Darien yet, and the fact that her cheeks were still flaming red, she decided to wait on getting the flower till later. Turning around she headed back the way she had come, humming just a little louder than before.

_***** ** *** ** *****_

"Hey Mina! Miiinnaaa! Wait up!" Yelled an overly eager princess; one who was now dressed in a light pink summer dress. The flowing dress was as casual as one of royalty were "allowed" to get away with and just happened to be Serenity's favorite to where on extremely hot days like this after a refreshing swim. _I really need to get more of these made, and soon if the current weather is anything to go by. Perhaps one in periwinkle, oh, or a great raspberry color would be nice. What color would Darien like? A blue or green maybe?_ She thought to herself while slightly jogging to catch up to her best friend, never registering that she cared what Darien wanted.

"What do you think you're doing!?!" Mina shouted back; panic and worry lancing every word, "Serenity! You should not be running! What are you even doing out of bed already?"

Skidding to a complete halt next to the similarly blonde princess of Venus, with about as much grace as a three legged giraffe, Serenity was brought out of her fashion intense thoughts, back to the real world and one very pissed of Guardian. "I'm sorry Mina, you were saying something?" The clumsy moon queen to be asked innocently; feeling a lecture coming on she unconsciously began to play with the end of a pigtail. She knew that she should have paid more attention to where she was going but it wasn't like this was anything new for her; she had no idea why Mina chose now of all times to take her to task for it. She mentally shrugged; Mina was her best friend but could also be the harshest person she knew when it came to her duties, training, or safety._ She can even be colder than the ever-frozen ice princess Rae; who is constantly on my case,_ she added.

Mina's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets at the question, "Yes! Yes I was saying something, you twit." Bonking her charge on the head to punctuate each word. "What are you thinking!? You have been stuck _in a bed for a mont_h! Not only that but in _a coma…_after you were just _attacked! _I think that warrants you some time to recover and not push yourself too hard! I don't know what I would do with myself if you were the one to hurt yourself, I mean more than you already do that is." Mina finished crossing her arms; this whole time Serenity had been trying to cut in to explain why she was up.

Giving her startled friend a hug before replying she said, "Mina, I am allowed to be up; not only by Setsuna's orders but my mother's as well." Glancing around to make sure that no one was lurking about, she pulled out her pendant from which the Silver Crystal dangled and sparkled. Mina let out a little gasp at the site of it; Serenity only held up one finger to put off any questions, then, taking a deep breath she continued, "This is called the Silver Crystal. It's something that all the females of Royal Lineage carry, but it only when in great need, and response to strong emotions does it actually materialize. All moon people are naturally inclined to heal faster than most, the Royals more so and with this, I am as good as new now, well mostly. Sadly enough it couldn't take away all the stiffness that comes with lying in bed all the time."

Following the intake of all this new information in, Mina just stood there for a second before shaking her head and saying, "Alright Little Miss Miraculous Healer Special New Toy Girl, I'll take your word for it for now, but I warn you. If I see a single hint of something wrong you _will _be going back to resting up." Serenity just grinned like a Cheshire cat and eagerly nodded her agreement before Mina asked, "So now that we have that all cleared up, what had you galloping like a sick hippo down the hallway calling my name from the rafters?"

Gasping with indignity at the horrible name her so-called "best friend" just referred to her as, the princess of the moon just huffed and declined to answer before making her way back down the hallway leaving a giggling and apologetic Guardian behind.

_***** ** *** ** *****_

After an hour or so later, of friendly bickering and bribery, all the girls were gathered; that's when the munching and gossiping began in earnest. A huge brunch had been brought up to girls' favorite room, the Parlor, due to the fact that it was the epitome of comfortable. There were recliners of every shape, size, color, and pushiness to choose from, not to mention there were a few squishy love seats as well. This room being the typical meeting place for such gatherings meant that each girl had a certain spot or chair they liked to settle in while snacking.

This get-together's topic was all about the Spring Ball being held in the Crystal Palace tomorrow. Everything was discussed; from the current fashions expecting to be seen, the food being brought in as well as specialties only seen at this event, to the people who might possibly be attending. Serenity sat quietly through the last part, already knowing that Darien would most likely be in attendance. She also already knew that if he did attend that she would be required to dance with him; more than once if her mother and the girls had their way she suspected. She began to feel nervous at the thought of being so close and intimate with him; the nerves weren't due to dislike but rather because she was staring to like him. _Like him for his body any ways, _she mentally added.

As if the girls could read her thoughts, the biggest gossiper of them all, Lita, asked, "So Serenity, do you know if Darien is going to be coming? I saw him earlier today at the stables talking to Andrew about something dropped off for him. He seemed to be doing fine walking around and stuff, but after what he went through it wouldn't surprise me if walking there and back was the extent of his energy."

Not quite sure how to answer she started off with, "Well I saw him at the pool today an-" But before she could get any further she was bombarded with questions and such.

"What do you mean you 'saw' him? As in you swam with him? Or what?"

"That pool is off limits to anyone but Royals, so that means you were all alone with him?!"

"How did he look? He looked yummy didn't he?"

"Oh my, did you see anything? If you don't understand anything I'd be happy to help find you books on it."

They kept coming for what seemed like hours; leaving her blushing to the roots and gasping at some of the out right things suggested. When they started to die down and she could get a word in edge wise she said with a touch of exasperation, "Are you all finished now? My goodness, all that happened this morning was that I forgot something by the pool and remembered half way back, I turned around and went to go get it when I saw Darien come to the surface of the pool right as I walked up. So not wanting to spy, or get caught, I decided I would just go get it later. That was it; nothing was said and nothing happened."

The girls all looked disappointed, especially Lita, that the possible gossip fodder was apparently nothing more than a fleeting glance, but Serenity wasn't about to them that she had actually stopped and started for quite some time. Then thinking of the missing scar from his back, she decides now is the best time to explain what her mother told her about the Silver Crystal.

"One thing that I did notice when I glanced was the absence of an arrow scar; he should have had at least some puckering of the skin from when I pulled it out." Seeing that she has their full attention she reaches in her dress and once again reveals the Pendant before continuing, "And I think it may have something to do with this." She then proceeds to tell them pretty much everything that happened and what her mother had said to her when she had first woken up, and then answers all their questions.

By the time she was finished, her four Guardians all sat around contemplating what this could mean, and not only how it would affect them, but their princess as well. Mina, leader of her Guardians, was the first to break the silence, saying, "We need to also think about the people right now; we need to plan a trip to the city and have Princess Serenity with us as well."

"We can't do that! She was just attacked not even a month ago and you want to parade her around town again?! She isn't bait and-" Rae interrupted vehemently; even though her and Serenity fought all the time, she was also fiercely protective of her. _Sometimes more protective than she should be, _Serenity thought while listening to the others pipe in as well,_ and now is one of those times._

Standing up to intervene before it could escalate any farther, all she had to do was hold a hand up and that cut off all discussion immediately. They may be her best friends, her, their charge and pupil most the time, not to mention that they are princesses of their respectful planets but she was their sovereign and as such when she exerted her authority, they listened.

"I fully understand your concerns girls but what I believe Mina is trying to say is that we need to look at this whole situation from the kingdom's people's point of view. Put yourself in their place right now; you have just heard that the beloved princess just had an attempt on her life and that the visiting Prince from another planet was wounded. It takes us both one month to even awaken; now that would cause me to worry and worry leads to unrest and unrest leads to worse, and worse things. Seeing me out and about would be a good moral booster; just knowing that I am perfectly fine and that there was no harm done would do a world of good. And besides… We can make a picnic day out of it!" She finished with a girly squeal of delight.

_Figures she would try to fit food into this whole thing somehow._ All four girls thought together.

**Ok then… So this concludes the first chapter back and boy was it a long one. The longest one I have done to date. ^^ And Yes I am working on the next chapter already so hopefully it won't be too long in coming out. All depends on my muse right now… so if you have any suggestions you'd like to make please feel free to drop me a private message. (but please don't suggest something if you are going to get mad if I don't use it :( … I have had people do that in the past and get mad when I go a different direction :p)**

**By the way if you are in the mood for a Oneshot Lemon please be sure to check out my other stories! They are Darien and Serena of course. :) But they are graphic, more so than this has been, so please be warned. **

**If you had any thoughts on this at all then pretty please drop me a review or comment! Any little thing would be greatly appreciated!!**

**Please Read and Review!**

**With Love,**

**Hime-chan**


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